


sweet/sour

by softtsett (softency)



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: A whole LOT of misunderstandings, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Background Relationships, Bad Boy(?) Jeon Wonwoo, Confused Jeon Wonwoo, Dancer Wen Jun Hui | Jun, Drinking, Fake Dating, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Frat Parties, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Jeon Wonwoo is Whipped, M/M, Masturbation, Minor Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan, Minor Kim Mingyu/Xu Ming Hao | The8, Misunderstandings, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Tags May Change, Wonwoo's friends are also a big mess, but it does get better, not actually unrequited crush
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2020-12-14 01:54:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21007784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softency/pseuds/softtsett
Summary: The first time Wonwoo sees Junhui, he doesn’t have any clue who he is.“I’m so sorry- I wasn’t watching where- Your coffee-!” The man rushed out in a split second, letting go of Wonwoo’s arm and he immediately felt like he needed that touch again, but he forced himself to let go of the man’s waist. He looked almost scared, his cheeks and ears flushed a bright red in what Wonwoo guessed was embarrassment.“It’s fine.” Was all he managed to get out, scanning over the man’s face and trying to memorize it as quickly as his mind would let him.And he makes Wonwoo late to class without the coffee that was supposed to keep him awake.





	1. untitled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He’s not exactly like how everyone says, you know. You two would be good for each other.” Seungcheol said, and it tugged painfully at his chest hard enough that he had to shut his eyes.
> 
> “He can do so much better than me.” Wonwoo said firmly, blinking open his eyes, not knowing who he was trying to convince with that, Seungcheol or himself.
> 
> Probably more himself, knowing his track record by now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, if you want a playlist to jam to while reading, I listen to [this playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7Jk1W8n4hafYBebc5p7S3n?si=lakoA5YgQ8GzTIoHEABWWg). give it a try, most of the titles come from a song on there because, you know, vibe check 
> 
> hope you like it! :)

Wonwoo knew people talked around campus.

It was something that you couldn’t avoid, everyone found out about who puked on who at the last frat party or who that jock was dating now. 

Wonwoo, somehow in the first week of freshman year, became a topic and has stayed one to date, a year from graduating.

No one really ever talked to him about it, but he found out through Mingyu and Seungcheol that everyone had somehow unanimously decided that Wonwoo was a ‘bad boy’ and that they shouldn’t bother him because ‘he glares at everyone that catches his attention’.

Obviously, neither were true.

From then on, Wonwoo decided to ignore every word of a rumor that he hears.

That worked until this year, when Wen Junhui transferred to his college and caused the halls to fill with chatter. It was the same type of talk that Wonwoo had heard go on about himself, so for the most part he ignored it, until Mingyu brought him up one day. 

“Where’s Hao?” Seungcheol asked, his mouth still halfway stuffed with the burger from the beg he’d gotten for all of them to eat. 

Mingyu seemed to deflate as he sat down, a soft pout finally showing itself on his lips. “He said not to wait up because Junhui needed some help with their lit class.” 

Wonwoo movements stutter where he is taking a bite out of his own burger before continuing on, hoping they hadn’t picked up on that. 

Mingyu has had a crush on Minghao ever since Wonwoo met him at their freshman mixer, so he can see now why Mingyu seemed moody; he was probably thinking this Junhui guy was going to steal him away. 

“That’s the performance guy that transferred here this semester, right?” Wonwoo spoke up, earning surprised looks from the two at the table. “People talk, it’s hard not to overhear it in class.” He said, waving his hand a bit to hopefully dismiss their questions. 

“That’s the guy.” Mingyu confirmed, finally opening the wrapper to his burger and biting down into it, not bothering to swallow it all before speaking again and making Wonwoo cringe at the sight. “He’s from China too, so when he found Minghao was in most of his classes and was from the same country they clicked.” Mingyu finished, chewing the rest of the bite and swallowing, not wasting a second before taking another bite. 

“You’re not jealous, are you?” Seungcheol asked, and Wonwoo’s eyes darted from the man back to Mingyu, wanting to make sure Mingyu wasn’t upset about it. 

Mingyu just gave them a soft, reserved and forcefully calm smile, and Wonwoo knew both he and Seungcheol saw straight through him. 

He’d try to convince Mingyu to try to talk to Minghao when they went back to their apartment.

The first time Wonwoo sees Junhui, he doesn’t have any clue who he is.

Wonwoo is carrying his coffee in one hand, a few books for his only morning class in the other, when someone caught his eye. 

In the next few seconds the man tripped over a dip in the concrete sidewalk just as he was passing Wonwoo, and out of instinct from how Mingyu fell around half of the time, he dropped his paper cup and tightly wrapped his arm around the man’s waist. He blinked a few times, not knowing why this guy had triggered that response within him, but as the man clung to his arm he got a weird feeling in his chest. As the man straightens up again, Wonwoo feels like he’s transitioned to being punched in the chest.

The man was _stunning_ in every sense of the word, and when those doe eyes turned to meet his own, Wonwoo wished he was wearing his glasses because the man’s face was still a bit fuzzy.

“I’m so sorry- I wasn’t watching where- Your coffee-!” The man rushed out in a split second, letting go of Wonwoo’s arm and he immediately felt like he needed that touch again, but he forced himself to let go of the man’s waist. He looked almost scared, his cheeks and ears flushed a bright red in what Wonwoo guessed was embarrassment. 

“It’s fine.” Was all he managed to get out, scanning over the man’s face and trying to memorize it as quickly as his mind would let him.

His attention was drawn from the man when a crowd of people exited the building in front of him. 

_ Shit _.

“Ah, that’s my cue.” Wonwoo murmured, looking back to him and giving him a small smile, crouching down and picking up the now empty coffee cup and standing back up

The man was still staring at him in shock at the entire situation, but nodded dumbly, making Wonwoo laugh softly at the image before going on his way, walking towards the building.

_ God, that guy was cute. _

The next time he runs into the man it’s at a friend of Seungcheol’s party, and he’s in the kitchen looking through the fridge for a bottle of water, because he was on the verge of being drunk off his ass and he didn’t appreciate that he was prone to more intense hangovers than his friends.

Letting out a soft ‘aha!’ as he found a bottle stored away, he shut the fridge and turned around, only making it a step before another body was crashing fully into his in the rather crowded small kitchen.

Wonwoo let out a small choked noise in alarm, both of them stumbling back into the fridge and the other landing pressed with his weight against Wonwoo. 

Once he stopped his head from spinning drastically he finally looked up, meeting the eyes that he’s been looking for the past month, even if he barely recognized them since he wasn’t wearing any contacts or glasses.

_ It was him _.

His eyes were just as wide and apologetic as the first time, a bit unfocused though this time and Wonwoo guessed he had something to drink tonight too. But then the realization hit the man visibly as he recognized Wonwoo, his jaw dropping in surprise.

Before he could speak up like he looked like he was about to, Wonwoo beat him to it.

“We’ve really gotta stop meeting like this, sweetheart.” He said with an easy laugh, relaxing back into the fridge, the alcohol in his system giving him more courage and calming him down in a way that he could have never haven been sober.

The response from the other man was breathtaking if you asked him, because the man’s breath hitched and his face flooded with a dark blush as he sputtered, trying to figure out something to say back to that.

Before Wonwoo could say anything else that would probably embarrass the hell out of him in the morning, or the man could sort out his thoughts enough to speak, a blurry figure from behind the body in front of him was calling out his name, and he squinted his eyes to try and make out any details to figure out just who the hell was interrupting him right now. The figure came closer, and annoyance grew in Wonwoo’s chest as he realized who it was.

“Won, Cheol needs you; someone got into a fight out back and we don’t know if his nose is broken.” Mingyu said, eyes darting back and forth from Wonwoo to the man against him in what he’d guess was surprise. 

Wonwoo took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them back up to meet this stranger’s again.

_ He was still drunk and now _really_ fucking pissed that he isn’t going to get to talk to this guy yet again. _

“How long are you going to be here?” Wonwoo asked quietly, his free hand moving to brush the man’s hair out of his eyes. 

That seemed to startle the guy out of his shocked daze, and he gave Wonwoo a soft smile. “Not-Not that long, my roommate needs to get back within the hour.” He said just as quietly, and Wonwoo cussed under his breath, knowing that it would probably be a good thirty minutes outside before he would be able to slip away and hunt the man down again. 

“I guess I’ll have to see you another time, then.” Wonwoo said, a soft huff escaping him in disappointment. _ Of course once he’s found the guy again he can’t see much of anything and has to leave. _“Keep yourself safe heading home at this time of night.” Wonwoo said, giving him one last smile before slipping away with Mingyu and leaving out the back door, pressing his tongue to the back of his teeth to keep his temper from flying through the roof. 

He wanted to find out who the hell this guy was tonight.

As he does his best to set the guy’s nose so it'll last until the morning, he faintly registers Mingyu asking him how he knew the guy, and he just tells him that he’s the guy Wonwoo’s been looking for the past month.

Mingyu doesn’t question him further, and Wonwoo is thankful for that at least.

They’re eating in the university’s dining hall a week later when he catches a glimmer of a familiar sight.

Wonwoo locks onto the man, staring him down and wishing he could yell at him telepathically to stop throwing away trash and not to leave, but Wonwoo just watches as the man heads out the hall with a few other guys all laughing together. 

When he turns back to the table, Mingyu and Minghao are looking at him with a weird expression that Wonwoo doesn’t understand.

Whatever.

It has been two months since Wonwoo ran into the guy, and he feels like he’s going to lose his mind.

He can’t find him anywhere most of the time, and when he does, one of them are always in a hurry somewhere and can’t talk.

“I’m losing it, Cheol.” He mumbled to the man driving them to school today since they had class schedules that matched up. 

Seungcheol glanced over to him for a split second, the question obvious in his eyes. “What’s up?” He asked softly, concern laced in his voice.

Wonwoo paused for a moment trying to pick out how to actually talk about everything for the first time, because he hasn’t told _ anyone _about it fully yet. “You remember at the party I said I was busy before you dragged me over?” He asked, and Seungcheol nodded a bit. “There’s this fucking guy, I don’t know who the hell he is but I keep running into him and never have time to talk to him properly. It’s been going on for two whole months now Cheol, I’m going insane.” 

Wonwoo _ knows _ this is weird for anyone to hear coming from him, so when Seungcheol makes a surprised noise in his throat and glances back at him for another moment, he can’t blame him. 

“He’s really pretty, Cheol. I feel like the universe if trying to stop me from shooting my shot with him.” Wonwoo complained, shifting in the passenger seat to face Seungcheol fully. Sure it wasn’t the most comfortable position, but they were talking about something that Wonwoo needed to get him to see that he was _ very _ serious about.

Seungcheol took a deep breath, his eyebrows basically disappearing into his messy hair that wasn’t styled up today. “What did he look like? Maybe me or Mingyu know of him.” He offered, and that tugged a small, thankful smile on his lips at the fact that Seungcheol was willing to help him out even this much. 

“He’s tall, maybe your height? He’s not that much shorter than me at all. And- And he’s got light brown hair? His eyes are really expressive and big doe eyes.” Wonwoo rambled, messing with one of the rips in his jeans and pulling at the threads. He didn’t know if he’d already said too much or if Seungcheol needed more to figure out who the guy was. 

Seungcheol was quiet for a moment, his expression eerily neutral and focused entirely on the road until he spoke up. “Mingyu saw him, right?” He asked, and Wonwoo nodded, a bit confused, but just rolling with everything at this point. “I’ll talk to him about finding the guy, I think Mingyu might know someone who fits that description.”

Wonwoo’s heart fucking _ soared _ at that.

_He might be able to find him._

What he didn’t know though was that Seungcheol’s mind was racing now, trying to figure out how to fix this as quickly as he could, because he _ did _know who Wonwoo was talking about, and this was going to quickly become a mess if they didn’t do something.

Wonwoo got caught up with a project for the majority of the next month, basically living in the campus library because Seungcheol, Mingyu and Minghao were noisy and Wonwoo would lose his mind if he had to stay around and listen to them all argue over a video game one more time.

It was nearing the end of the month now, and Wonwoo had just finished up the project and sent it to his professor, the weight finally lifted off his chest.

Wonwoo was fucking ecstatic to get this finished.

He wasn’t paying much attention to his surroundings until he spotted Minghao sitting with another person, his mood brightening considerably as he moved to go see him, but quickly stopped once he registered that there was someone tucked into his side and laughing. 

He blinked a few times, trying to make sure he wasn’t seeing things with his weaker contacts before he admitted to himself that this _ was _the guy that he’s been looking for. 

And he was pressed against Minghao.

And he was looking at Minghao like Wonwoo had daydreamed he might be able to get directed towards himself. 

Seungcheol lied to him, they knew him.

_ They lied to his face this entire time._

Wonwoo suddenly met Minghao’s eyes, his heart fully dropping as he watched the shocked expressions appear on Minghao’s features. 

He gave him a tight, bitter smile before ripping his eyes away and continuing on quickly back to his bike. It wasn't any of his business after all who Minghao dated.

Wonwoo wasn’t going home, he called Hansol, another close friend that he’d made last year, and asked if he could spend the night over since he lived alone.

Once Hansol gave him the go ahead, he slipped on his helmet and gloves before taking off, wanting to be gone as fast as he could.

His chest ached with a heavy weight all the way there to Hansol’s apartment, and when Hansol gathered a crying Wonwoo into his arms in the doorways to his apartment without any questions, he finally felt it lift even if only slightly.

He didn’t have a chance with the stranger he’s been pining after for three entire months, because he was with Minghao.

_ His life fucking sucked. _

Wonwoo must have fallen asleep somewhere in the afternoon, because he woke up to the familiar smell of Hansol very close to him. Wonwoo let out a small noise in his throat, groggily lifting his head and finding that he had fallen asleep on Hansol’s shoulder. 

“Ah, sorry.” He murmured, sitting back up and leaning back into the couch and rubbing his eyes. He felt like shit; he had a headache from crying, is throat hurt from the sobs, he probably needed to drink some water soon or his voice will go to shit.

Hansol gave him a soft understanding smile, watching him with a few questions in his eyes, but the softness there not making Wonwoo panic like he usually would in this situation. “Did something happen with Mingyu?” He asked, and Wonwoo pressed his lips into a tight line, shaking his head.

“I-” He began before opting to think a bit on how to explain this to Hansol properly. “I told you about the guy I ran into right?” He asked and Hansol looked at him confused, but nodded.

“The guy that made you drop your coffee and you thought was hot?” Hansol asked bluntly, and Wonwoo’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

“Yeah, that’s the guy.” Wonwoo confirmed, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Those three lied to me. They knew who he was. I think he’s dating Minghao, he was all over him when I came out of the library.” Wonwoo mumbled, sulking as he explained it. “They let me look like a fool pining over that guy and trying to find out who he was. I feel so stupid, Solie. It’s been so long since I was even remotely interested in anyone and now I make a fool of myself immediately.” 

Hansol’s eyes widened but the confusion set further into place. “Minghao isn’t dating anyone right now, everyone thinks he likes Mingyu.” He said, and Wonwoo frowned. “He only is really close with…” Hansol trailed off before his eyes widened with concern and he fully turned to face Wonwoo. “Won, what did he look like?” He asked in a rushed voice, and Wonwoo felt dread creep up in his gut.

“Same height as Seungcheol, brown hair, doe eyes-” Wonwoo rambled, and Hansol quickly interrupted him before he could continue, letting out a loud groan and falling back against the couch, looking like he realized something.

“This is a mess.” Hansol muttered, scrubbing both of his hands over his face before he turned to face Wonwoo again moments later. “That’s Wen Junhui, Won.”

And just like that, Wonwoo’s world collapsed around him.

He didn’t know which he would have preferred, Minghao dating his crush behind his back, or the fact that Wonwoo had fallen for the most untouchable and desired man on campus that has turned everyone down in the singular year that he’s been in the same college with Wonwoo.

He’s screwed either way, so Wonwoo just accepts his fate, realizing he has _ no _ fucking chance because he’s nothing special, he can’t put on more muscle or grow any taller, he’s smart but being smart doesn’t equal being good with people. If Junhui has turned down the people that he _ knows _that the man has, Wonwoo has _no_ chance with him.

_He’s lost before he could even try._

“Oh.” He murmured, trying to blink away the burning feeling of tears in his eyes again from having his heart ripped from him for the second time today. “Well, I guess I just need to get over it, huh?” He said with a weak laugh, and before he knew it, Hansol was gathering him into his arms again and Wonwoo refused to cry again, opting to just clinging to Hansol and wishing he was someone different, someone that wasn’t _ him_, someone that could even bring up the courage to even look at Junhui after finding this out. 

Someone that wasn’t _Jeon_ _Wonwoo_.

It takes him until the next night before he feels collected enough to leave and drive back to the shared apartment. 

“You can stay another night if you need to, you know.” Hansol murmured, standing at the door with his hands in his pockets, and Wonwoo just gave him a soft, sweet smile. 

“Those three blew up my phone yesterday, so I should probably go and talk to them.” He said reluctantly, moving to pick up his helmet and gloves that he’d left by the door. He knew Hansol was apprehensive about Wonwoo going back to the apartment, having seen how much this wrecked Wonwoo yesterday. 

“Okay, keep me updated, Won.” He said quietly, and with that, Wonwoo went out to the carport of the apartments and tugged his helmet and riding gloves on, the rumble of the motorcycle under him keeping him grounded and he finally set off to his home. 

The ride there was a blur, and he didn’t put too much energy into remembering everything, moving on autopilot until he got to their parking area. He trudged up the stairs to give him more time rather than taking the elevator. 

_All three men lied to Wonwoo, and Hansol was the only one who had the guts to tell him anything._

_Why did they all have to lie to him?_

_They could have just told him the truth and this wouldn't have blown up on all of them._

He was still moving on autopilot when he unlocked the door and opened it, his helmet and gloves tucked away into his other arm. 

As soon as he took a few steps into the apartment, he saw a slightly familiar head of hair on the couch with his back towards Wonwoo. 

_No._

Wonwoo’s heart lurched as he slowly began backing up, his mind a mess of repeating ‘no’s in horror that _Wen Junhui_ was in their apartment. 

_Wonwoo couldn’t do this right now, everything still hurt._

He managed to get all the way back to the door before Junhui tensed up and began turning, sending Wonwoo into a panicked frenzy and he yanked open the door, running out of it as quickly as he could, not bothering with the noise now that he’s been found out. 

He only stopped running when he got back to his bike, throwing his leg over and hurriedly throwing up the kickstand, his hands shaking as he just shoves the gloved in his back pocket and yanks the helmet on. 

_He couldn’t do this._

After revving the still warm engine a few times, he set back out onto the road, his body still slightly shaking. 

In the end, he ended up not going back to Hansol’s apartment because Seungcheol knew he stayed there last night, not wanting to be found right now, especially by one _Wen_ fucking _Junhui_.

_ Why was he in their apartment? _

_ Had those three spilled that Wonwoo had a huge crush on him?_

_Is that why he was there? To let Wonwoo down as easy as he could?_

He came to a stop at campus, not knowing where else to go, and this was where his mind took him. He parked his bike and cut it off, taking the keys out and moving in jerky movements as he shoved the keys into his pocket and began walking to the arts building, where the big pond was out back.

On the way he began undoing his helmet, but decided against it, because he just ended up flopping down on a hill and sprawling out in the sun, the visor keeping his eyes from burning.

Someone like Wen Junhui would never want someone like him, and seeing him in the apartment just dug the stake in his chest deeper. 

Wonwoo watched the clouds for a long while, managing to calm himself down after a bit and he had managed to shut his eyes sometime along the way.

He doesn’t know how long he was out for, but when he woke up, there was someone above him.

_ He let out a choked noise in his throat in panic. _

_ What the hell? _

His body jerked and his arms flailed a bit, trying to steady himself from the heart attack he was just given. 

_ Who the hell was this guy and why the hell was he just sitting there waiting for Wonwoo to wake up. _

Wonwoo tried to catch his breath, sitting up and unstrapping his helmet to take it off and get a better look at the guy. Once, he got the helmet off, the man spoke up. 

“Ah, I was hoping it was you in there. I’m Jeonghan.” The man said, eyes glinting with amusement at Wonwoo’s panic. “You _ are _Jeon Wonwoo, right?” He asked, and Wonwoo dumbly nodded, his eyes wide as he realized the sun was setting now. 

“Yeah, that’s me. Do you like… need something? Why are you here?” He asked, his brain fried from the last two days he’s had. Luckily, it didn’t seem to come across rude to the guy, and he just stole a glance at the phone on his lap before looking back to Wonwoo. 

“Jun is looking for you, he says you sprinted out of your apartment and to check here because apparently you like to come here for breaks between classes.” The man explained, and Wonwoo almost choked again. 

_ Did he mean Junhui? _

_ He can’t let Junhui find him. _

_ He can’t do this, he just wants to go home and sleep in his own bed. _

“I have to- I have to leave.” Wonwoo rushed out, panic building in his chest again. He rose to his feet, pulling out his gloves and tugging them on so his hands wouldn’t freeze from the wind this time. 

Jeonghan just stared up at him like he was this was the most interesting thing he’s done today, not getting up with him. “Junhui is on his way, I told him you were knocked out and he said to keep you until he gets here.” He informed Wonwoo, and he felt like he could cry again from all of this. 

“I’m sorry. I just- I can’t.” He rushed out, picking up his helmet and slipping it back on before strapping it on. “I’m sorry.” He repeated, his voice slightly muffled by the barrier. 

“I’ll tell him I walked away for a minute to answer a call and you disappeared.” Jeonghan said, and for once today he felt relieved. 

“Thank you.” He breathed, finishing securing everything. “If you ever need anything, I owe you one.” Wonwoo said, starting to walk away. He stole one last glance to the man still sitting by the pond. 

_ He lucked out with this one._

Wonwoo ran back to his bike, slipping out his phone and texting Hansol that something happened and he’s spending the night again after all before taking off out of there before anything else could happen to him. 

“He was _ what? _” Hansol asked loudly, both of them eating take out pizza that they ordered a few minutes ago. 

“He was sitting in my damn apartment, Solie. Waiting for me most likely, because he told his friend to check if I was at the pond I always go to on campus and when the guy said I was, he said he was on his way and to try to keep me there!” Wonwoo rambled, and Hansol looked at him with even more surprised eyes. 

“Whoa, whoa, back up, his friend found you when you were napping.” He asked, and Wonwoo shoved another bite of pizza in his mouth before answering. 

“His name was Jeonan or something like that, but he covered for me and told me he’d say I just disappeared when Junhui got there.” Wonwoo explained, and Hansol made a loud noise, trying to finish his bite as quickly as he could. 

“Really pretty? Blonde Hair?” Hansol asks rapidly, and Wonwoo thinks back before nodding slightly, confused as to what Hansol is going on about. “His name is Jeonghan, he’s in a few of my classes and he’s been pining after Coups for nearly a year now, but Coups is too blind to register Jeonghan's flirting.” Hansol said with a soft chuckle, and Wonwoo let out a laugh, because yeah he could see him doing that. 

“How about we have a movie night and not talk about boys.” Wonwoo suggested, and Hansol grinned at him and nodded.

They watched a few movies before Hansol dragged them to the bed, both of them too tired for another hour starring at a screen.

The last thing Wonwoo remembers was Hansol telling him he’d wake him up early tomorrow before he left for his morning class.

Wonwoo wouldn’t technically say he’s scared to open up their apartment and go inside, but he _ is _pacing a few times and having to take deep breaths out of the fear that Junhui is going to be waiting for him again. 

Finally after a lot of mental hyping, he unlocks the door and stepped inside, being as quiet as possible. 

He thankfully didn’t find anyone out in the shared space of their apartment, making it into his room and shutting the door before letting out a breath of relief. 

_ He was safe for now. _

Wonwoo drops his helmet and gloves before flopping down on his bed, not bothering to get under the covers or change before he found himself falling asleep again out of exhaustion. 

Wonwoo woke up to someone hitting him aggressively in the head with a pillow.

The first thing he registered, was that it looked like it was night outside, and the second thing he registered, was Minghao standing over him looking like he was ready to commit _murder_.

Wonwoo didn’t know what to do. 

So he just looked up to Minghao with wide, startled eyes, and all he got back was another blow from the pillow, making him grunt and shield his face from any further attacks.

“You’re _fucking_ _lucky_ Mingyu loves you, because I would have ripped your tongue out by now if he didn’t.” Minghao hissed, sitting down on the side of the bed. “Do you even realize what yesterday did to Junhui?! He waited for you all day in this damn apartment with Seungcheol and then you run away fucking _ twice _ on him.” 

Wonwoo felt his chest seize up, but not in the way it’s been doing in the past few days.

“How the fuck do you think I’ve been feeling the past few days, huh?” Wonwoo hissed out glaring at Minghao and sitting up to press his back against the wall, putting space between them. “First I find out everyone _ lied _ to my face, and then I go to Hansol and he’s the only one who actually tells me the fucking truth in _ seconds _ of me describing him. You all let me look like a fucking _ idiot_.” Wonwoo said, his voice rising in volume because _screw him _ for only thinking of himself and his friend instead of why Wonwoo did it in the first place. 

The door to his room banged open, and there stood Mingyu and Seungcheol, both looking concerned expressions on their faces. 

“Wonwoo, we didn’t mean to keep it from you, we just-” Seungcheol began, but Wonwoo was quick to cut him off. 

“All of you let me make a fucking _ fool _ out of myself chasing after him. Three fucking months you all heard me talking about him, because this was my first time in a long time falling for someone, and I was so fucking excited to find him and I already had a line planned out about going for coffee and-” Wonwoo felt the tears before he registered that he was crying again, aggressively wiping at his face as if that was going to stop them. 

He was done with this.

“Just leave- all of you, go.” Wonwoo said softly, everything building way too quickly for him to take, all kinds of emotions bubbling inside of him. “I’ll be fine again in a while, I just need to forget about him and then I’ll be back to normal.” He said quietly, wrapping the blanket tighter around him. Wonwoo watched Seungcheol deflate and Mingyu and Minghao eyed him warily before Seungcheol let out a sigh. 

“Okay, if you want space we can give you some, but we need to talk this out eventually, Won.” Seungcheol said, shooing everyone out of the room and sending one last smile to Wonwoo before leaving after everyone and closing the door behind him. 

Wonwoo flopped back down against the bed once he was alone, scrubbing his face against the pillow and sighing loudly. 

_ Jeon Wonwoo didn’t suit someone like Wen Junhui. _

_He just needed to take the time to accept it._

_He needed time._

Wonwoo managed to make it a whole day without talking about it before the next afternoon he found himself fixing dinner with Seungcheol.

“You really need to talk to Junhui about this, Wonwoo. Both of you are messed up right now.” Seungcheol said, and Wonwoo wanted to run away immediately, but the look Seungcheol steadied him with made him stay. “I don’t like seeing you like this, you look like hell.” He added, and that made Wonwoo look up from where he was stirring the soup they were fixing.

“I’ll be fine, I just need time to get over everything.” He said quietly, and returned his eyes to the food.

Seungcheol made a soft noise in disapproval and he knew he wasn’t getting out of this easily. “Just please don’t take this out on him, he wants to talk and get to know you still.” He said gently, and Wonwoo’s lips pressed into a thin line.

“I have to get rid of my feelings before I can get to know him, I don’t want to make it awkward.” He said quietly, and Seungcheol just sighed.

“He’s not exactly like how everyone says, you know. You two would be good for each other.” Seungcheol said, and it tugged painfully at his chest hard enough that he had to shut his eyes.

“He can do so much better than me.” Wonwoo said firmly, blinking open his eyes, not knowing who he was trying to convince with that, Seungcheol or himself.

He'll be alright, he has to be.

Wonwoo was fucking tired.

He’d just spent the last part of a good two hours taking his first exam for one of his classes, and it drained him bad enough that he just went to the library and hid in the back where most people didn’t go to get a few minutes of shut eye before having to drive back to his apartment. He did at least manage to set an alarm for an hour, so there was a positive. 

Sleep came easy, his head tucked into his crossed arms on the table. This entire fucking month has been hell for Wonwoo, but hey, he’s still breathing so as Mingyu says, that’s a win right there.

Wonwoo didn’t wake up to his alarm, however. He halfway woke up to a hand running through his hair. 

He figured it was just Mingyu, since all three of them used this spot to hide away, and just tucked his face further into his arms, drifting back out again, this time to the feeling of a hand running through his hair.

He was startled out of his slumber from his phone vibrating in his pants pocket, scaring him enough to wake him up.

Wonwoo yawned, groggily picking his head up and rubbing at his eyes with the palms of his hands.

Then, he realized there was someone in the seat across the table from him.

Wonwoo jerked in surprise, managing to bang one of his knees on the table and letting out an embarrassed groan.

It wasn’t Mingyu earlier, it was Jeonghan.

Jeonghan let out a pleased laugh, grinning slyly at Wonwoo like he knew he got him even better this time.

“Jun got out of class a minute ago and this time I can’t cover for you this time, he’s probably almost here.” Jeonghan said, a content smile on his lips. “He was pissed at me for not corralling you at the lake, so you have to stay and talk to him finally.” He informed him, taking a sip of his can.

“I don’t know what there’s to talk about…” Wonwoo said sulkily, sliding down in his chair and trying to fully wake up.

Jeonghan hummed, taking his time with swallowing the sip. “How about how you ran off three times from him because you misunderstood him and Minghao.” He said, raising an eyebrow, and what immediately ran through Wonwoo’s head is that he really would be good with Seungcheol because both of them can corner Wonwoo without him realizing it.

“If I talk with Junhui about this, then you have to talk to Seungcheol.” He countered and watched Jeonghan’s face flush in embarrassment and his eyes go wide in shock of just _how_ Wonwoo knew to use that.

It took the other a moment to speak again, but when he did he didn’t audibly sound affected. “How- I don’t even have any idea where he could be right now, so that’s not happening-” He began, waving Wonwoo off, but Wonwoo just rose a challenging eyebrow.

“He’s either in the back of the lunch hall with headphones in, or by the lake near where you found me. Go get him, I’ll put in a good word about you when I get home.” He said and Jeonghan gaped at him for a moment before a flash of nervousness crept across his features, disrupting the calm and collected look he was getting used to. “I’ll try my best to talk to Junhui, now go, Coups is free for another half hour.”

A bright grin lit up Jeonghan’s face and Wonwoo watched him get up and throw his book bag over his shoulder. “Thank you, Wonwoo.” He said and Wonwoo just grunted not fighting it when the other ruffled his hair again before he left in the direction for the front of the library with a spring in his step.

Wonwoo watched him go with a small warm tug in his chest, hoping that Seungcheol would at least realize he’s being flirted with and give him a chance.

He hopes it goes better than what happened to him, at least.

As soon as Jeonghan was out of sight Wonwoo set his head back down and tucked his face back into his arms, slumping back down on the table and trying to push away the panic in his stomach at the act that Junhui was coming here for him now and wanted to finally talk to Wonwoo still after everything

He doesn’t know how long he was there for, but he lifted his head a while later, realizing he’d fallen back asleep and rubbing his eyes as he set back up, groggily blinking them open.

For the second time today, Wonwoo practically jumped out of his skin and banged both of his knees on the table this time.

Junhui was sitting across from him where Jeonghan had been, watching him with those fucking doe eyes that Wonwoo couldn’t get out of his head.

Wonwoo’s heart just about stopped.

“I- How long have I been asleep?” He asked sheepishly, running a hand through his hair to hopefully fix it back.

Junhui laughed softly, and Wonwoo felt like he was going to die right here and now because fuck he was so cute. “About five minutes, but it’s no problem, you’re cute when you sleep.” Junhui said, and Wonwoo agreed with himself that yeah, Wen Junhui was going to be the thing that kills him. “When Hannie told me you were here sleeping I didn’t believe him, but then he called me and flipped the camera and you were actually here.” He said with another soft laugh, a smile seemingly permanent on his lips.

Wonwoo admired the sight for a few seconds before he forced himself to say something. “I sent him off to go find Cheol in hopes of stopping him from messing up my hair even more.” He said offhandedly, and something changed about how Junhui was watching him, just a slight shift, but even though Wonwoo caught it, he had no idea what changed.

“Yeah, he can get really touchy.” Junhui agreed, and Wonwoo dismissed the change from his mind. “I’m sorry about the whole lying thing, it really wasn’t their fault, I asked them to do it.” Junhui said quietly, making Wonwoo’s chest tighten.

_Maybe this was going to be okay after all._

“It’s fine; it hurt, but I’m over it.” Wonwoo said with a soft shrug, moving to rest his chin on his palm, watching Junhui attentively. “We’ve made up, Hansol made me properly talk to them.” He said and something shifted again within Junhui.

This was going to drive Wonwoo crazy.

“I guess you’ve figured it out by now, but I’m Wen Junhui.” He said, and Wonwoo nodded a bit, giving him a soft smile.

It was obvious Wonwoo knew who he was by now. “I’m Jeon Wonwoo.” He replied, and a knowing grin pulled on Junhui’s lips.

“I know, there's no way not to around here.” He said, and Wonwoo’s ears heated up.

_What does that mean? _

“You know I’m not what the rumors say, right? They’ve been going around since freshman year.” He said, and Junhui’s grin grew a bit.

“I know.” He said simply, and Wonwoo watched him closely. “You know I’m nothing like the rumors about me too?” He added, and Wonwoo’s mind blanked before he had to reboot it. "That's why I asked them not to tell you my name."

Fuck. “I know.” He responded, feeling himself relax into Junhui’s presence. “I’ll just have to get to know you and see for myself.” He said playfully, giving Junhui a shy smile.

He watched Junhui’s eyes trail down to his lips, lingering there for a few moments before moving back to meet Wonwoo’s eyes again. “If you really want to, I’m an open book.” Junhui said, and Wonwoo’s eyes softened. “I’m really not dating Minghao, I’m just really close to him. We’re both from China, so I just kind of latched onto him as soon as I came here.” Junhui explained, giving Wonwoo a reassuring look.

“You dating anyone?” Wonwoo asked, even though he was sure he knew the answer.

Junhui let out a soft laugh, before shaking his head. “No, not at all.” He said, grinning brightly at Wonwoo. “I’m waiting for someone, have been since I saw them in my first week here.” He explained, and even though pain shot through Wonwoo’s chest at the conformation that he had no chance, Wonwoo understood. Mingyu was doing the same thing after all.

“Ah, he’s a lucky guy then.” He said with a soft, small smile. He understood, but it still hurt.

“What about you?” He asked, and Wonwoo tilted his head a bit in confusion, not knowing what he was asking with all of his thoughts running through his mind.

“Are you dating anyone? The rumors only cover that you’ve never dated anyone here.” Junhui said with a soft laugh, catching onto Wonwoo’s confusion easily.

Wonwoo blinked a few times, feeling surprised (even though he shouldn’t) that Junhui had actually listened to the mostly made up stories about him. “Yeah, I haven’t. I kind of… have been waiting for someone to make me feel like I need to have them for myself, you know?” Wonwoo said and Junhui immediately nodded, leaning forward to rest his elbows against the surface of the table.

“You haven’t felt that yet so far?” He asked, and Wonwoo hesitated for a second before he decided to answer honestly.

“I have, but I knew I never had a chance with them so I gave up.” He said, his voice quieting down a bit.

The response was immediate.

A look that Wonwoo couldn’t decipher crossed onto Junhui’s face, and Junhui leaned closer, his brows pulling together in the center.

“Wonwoo, you really should go after them, anyone would be lucky to have you by the way your friends talk about you.” Junhui fussed, leaning even closer, probably just barely still in his seat. “You should take the chance and ask them for coffee or something.”

Wonwoo’s chest thrummed painfully at that, and he must have made some visible reaction because clear concern crept into Junhui’s eyes.

_That was what he was going to do. He’d rehearsed it a dozen times to make sure he wouldn’t stutter and scare him off. He’d gotten his hopes up. He’d suffered for that._

“Ah, no, I really shouldn’t. I don’t want to mess everything up.” Wonwoo said, sitting up before leaning back into his chair. “I probably wouldn’t be good for him anyways, it was just a pipe dream I got caught up in.” Wonwoo said, completely dismissing the idea.

But apparently Junhui wasn’t having any of this.

“Wonwoo, you’re a catch for anyone.” _Except_ _you_. “Is it Hansol? I can help, he’s in one of my classes.”

Wonwoo froze in surprise at that, his eyes widening drastically.

_What?_

“No, _no no no_, it’s not Hansol.” Wonwoo rushed out, shaking his head a few times. “We’ve hooked up before, but we wouldn’t make it in a relationship.” He said offhandedly, and Junhui’s features seemed to steel in the slightest way as soon as the words left his mouth.

“Ah, okay. What are you majoring in?” He asked, sitting back fully in his chair and Wonwoo was thankful he knew how to read a situation and when to stop.

They talked, getting to know each other for what he now realized was nearing two hours looking at his phone.

And honestly? This feels like it has been the best two hours of his life.

He packed up his things and walked out of the library with Junhui since he needed to head to class.

“You drive a motorcycle?” Junhui instantly asked when he took notice of the helmet and gloves fully.

Wonwoo gave him a small nod of his head and let himself have this for now, feeling himself fully fall for Junhui even if by tomorrow he’s going to have to put a stop to it. “You want a ride over to the arts building? I’m heading home anyways.” He offered, keeping his voice calm even though in his head he was yelling at himself that this was selfish and that he was only offering so he could have Junhui close for a little while longer.

_He was only human after all. _

So when Junhui excitedly nodded and his whole body practically lit up in excitement, Wonwoo let himself have this one last thing as a goodbye to how good this felt.

“Helmet on.” He said, turning to turn the keys in the ignition and start up the bike. When he turned back to Junhui, however, the man was just standing there with that unreadable shift about him, watching Wonwoo curiously. “Do you know how to put it on or am I going to have to do it for you?” He joked, picking up his gloves and tugging them on.

He really should have wore his glasses today.

“Help me?” Was the next thing from Junhui, and Wonwoo just about gave himself a heart attack at how clueless the man sounded.

Wonwoo had to take a deep breath before he moved over to him, picking up the helmet and pulling the straps out before holding it backwards to place it on Junhui. He didn’t have a spare today, and even if it was only a small drive, Wonwoo really fucking likes Junhui’s face and doesn’t want bad luck to mess it up. Junhui lets him brush his hair back and carefully slip the helmet down, it ending up being actually a decent fit for him.

“You’ve never rode a motorcycle, have you?” He asked as he playfully hit down the visor before turning back to the bike and slinging a leg over, steadying it out and kicking up the stand. “C’mon, you’re safe with me. If i can ride with Mingyu and not die then you’re going to be no problem.” Most of the hesitance seemed to fade from Junhui at that, shaking his head and taking a few tentative steps closer to the idle bike. “Just swing your leg over like I did, I’m holding the bike still.” Wonwoo instructed, moving to hold the handlebars steady as Junhui clumsily mounted the bike, but Wonwoo quickly registered that he was sitting way closer than he really had to.

“How do I hold on, Won?” He asked, and Wonwoo had to take a breath to calm himself at the way his heart tried to start racing.

Wonwoo let go of the handlebars, placing one foot on the pegs. “You’re going to put your feet on the pegs right behind mine, okay?” He instructed further, and Junhui did as told without any hesitance. “Your arms go around me, just wrap ‘em and hold on when we set off.”

Junhui’s arms firmly wrapped around Wonwoo without any second thought, making Wonwoo’s cheeks heat up at how Junhui had his hands firmly pressed against his stomach, fingers tangling in his hoodie.

As soon as Wonwoo felt confident enough to pull in the clutch and shift out of neutral he revved the engine and picked up his other foot, taking off in the direction of the parking lot’s exit. As soon as they began to ride, Junhui let out a soft squeak and clung to Wonwoo, his body pressed flush against him.

As soon as he felt comfortable with the weight added, he pulled out of the lot and finally punched the throttle, the engine getting louder than the previous rumble and he faintly heard Junhui let out a surprised squeal at the quick change of speed.

It only took a minute before he got to the front of the arts building, not bothering to kill the engine and just pressing his feet firmly down as they came to a stop.

Junhui dismounted the bike better than how he’d gotten on, letting Wonwoo reach over and unbuckle the helmet and gently slip it off.

He knew people around were staring, but all his attention was drawn into the way that Junhui looked like he’d just won the lottery, a bright and happy grin on his lips.

“Not so bad, right?” He asked, feeling a smile pull at his lips too.

Junhui nodded, running a hand through his hair before glancing behind Wonwoo and seemingly realizing that they weren’t alone anymore. “Thank you, Won.” He said, turning his eyes back to Wonwoo, his voice significantly softer and more vulnerable than it had been earlier. “I should get going, Minghao will have a fit if I’m late.”

Wonwoo nodded, taking in how good Junhui looked before he relented and slipped the helmet on, fastening it before looking back to him one more time. “I’ll see you around then, Junnie.” He said, his voice slightly muffled by the helmet now in place.

Junhui had a playful grin on his lips as soon as Wonwoo called him that, reaching out and gently closing the visor, making Wonwoo laugh. “Go on bad boy, before people realize they’ve been wrong about you for years.”

Wonwoo let out a brighter laugh, nodding and watching Junhui ascend the stairs before finally revving the engine and getting out of there.

_Tomorrow. _He promised himself_. Tomorrow I’ll stop, but today, I’m allowed to want him._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well uh,,, welcome to hell, everything hurts here but it'll get better.
> 
> I usually just word dump a fic in one go, but this is going to be a long ride from start to finish, so I'll spare you for now. i'm not sure how I'm going to split everything up into chapters right now, but it's flowing easier than I expected it to, so it won't be a lifetime until the next update if everything goes smoothly :)
> 
> also, I'm new to writing these boys, keep in mind that the personality will shine more and more in the rest of the story lol.
> 
> hope you liked it so far! I kind of ran with a tiny idea I had and we're here now, more than 5k in, and not even close to the end lmao. feedback is always appreciated and makes me more happy to update, so don't hesitate to drop your thoughts!
> 
> I'm pretty active on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/softency), so that's the best place to find me.
> 
> until next time <3


	2. so far so good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Don’t. Fucking. Touch. Him.” He hissed out his hands clenching and relaxing by his sides.  
The man laughed arrogantly, obviously not taking Wonwoo seriously. “And who are you? Some white night trying to save the college prude?” He asked, and Wonwoo’s felt like he was going to explode, but then he felt two hands curl into the back of his sweater and Wonwoo was a fucking inch away from breaking this guy’s nose.
> 
> “Jeon Wonwoo, his fucking boyfriend.”

  
“Wonwoo?” He heard Mingyu call the next afternoon, walking into the kitchen where Wonwoo was munching on some chips before he had to head out for class.

  
Wonwoo hummed in response, a clear go-ahead for Mingyu to just keep talking.

Mingyu then came into his sight, and instantly he knew something had happened because there was a knowing grin on his lips from the start of this. “Why is campus buzzing with talk that you drove Wen Junhui over to his class?” He asked, and Wonwoo’s mind blanked, not knowing if he should actually own up to it or deny the rumors.

“I talked to him yesterday about it, everything’s fine now.” Wonwoo settled for saying, but Mingyu just arched an eyebrow at the aversion to the question.

“You drove him, didn’t you?” Mingyu asked, his excitement finally showing, and Wonwoo groaned and shoved a few more chips into his mouth. “Everyone says that you two were too friendly to just be friends, so did you-”

“No.” Wonwoo cut him off, his voice going tight. “And I’m not going to try. Yesterday was just a one-time thing, I’m back to trying to get over it.” He said, and Mingyu set him a disapproving look. “Ah, cut that out, I’m going to go change and then I’m heading to class, I’ll be back later.” He said as he finished up his chips, throwing them away in the kitchen trash can and leaving the room before Mingyu could try to hold him hostage for more answers.

“Can you drive me! Coups took the car! I need to go to the library!” Mingyu called, and Wonwoo didn’t stop going to his room, calling out a ‘No’ before closing the door and going to change his clothes.

Mingyu gave him a pout when he came out from his room with his spare helmet in hand, making Wonwoo laugh. “C’mon you baby, you’re going to make me late.” He teased, handing over the spare helmet before grabbing his keys and leaving the building with Mingyu on his heels.

Riding with Mingyu wasn’t as bad as Wonwoo ranted on about, he just liked to hold his feet out when they came to a stop like a kid on a swing set, and even though it should annoy the hell out of Wonwoo, he finds himself laughing every time.

Wonwoo steadied the bike as they rolled into the parking for bikes, taking a quick glance down to find Mingyu tapping his feet quickly behind his own like he was running, making Wonwoo let out an unrestrained laugh.

Two hours and a class later, Wonwoo got off the phone with Mingyu, finding out that Minghao was going to take him home later since they were studying together.

It was awkward, he found out, to carry two helmets and a textbook and not drop everything.

It was just his luck though, that as soon as he got outside the building and was heading to his bike, He ran into someone.

Like full speed, crashed into someone, sending the spare helmet tumbling to the ground as Wonwoo steadied himself before actually looking at whoever had run into him.

“We’ve really got to stop meeting like this.” He said with a soft, amused laugh, turning Junhui’s panicked expression into one of relief that he’d only run into Wonwoo.

A giggle bubbled out of Junhui, his eyes glittering now like they had been yesterday. “Well, I’m not complaining.” He said, a bright grin pulling on his lips.

“Where are you headed?” Wonwoo asked, reaching down and retrieving the spare helmet from where he’d dropped it.

“Ah, I’m waiting for Minghao to finish up, he’s my ride today.” He said, watching Wonwoo with curious eyes, and as soon as he heard that, Wonwoo’s caveman part of his brain spoke before he could stop himself.

Fuck. “I’ll give you a ride if you want, Mingyu rode with me so I have an extra helmet.” Wonwoo offered, trying his best to not sound overly excited because no, he wasn’t allowed to be selfish today.

Junhui’s eyes widened and he glanced down at the helmet in surprise before turning to look back up to Wonwoo’s eyes. “I shouldn’t, I don’t want to make you go out of your way to drop me off.” Junhui said, suddenly becoming shyer than Wonwoo remembered him being yesterday.

“I want to, plus we can give those two more time together and hopefully Mingyu might talk to Minghao finally about feelings.” Wonwoo offered, giving him a soft smile. “Only if you want to, you know. I just figured you might want to head home instead of waiting up, but if you don’t want to it’s-”

“You’re sure?” Junhui asked, and Wonwoo nodded without hesitation. “I- Okay, I just need to let Minghao know.” He said, digging into his pocket and pulling out his phone. Wonwoo patiently waited for him, watching him a bit fondly and giving him a small smile when he pocketed his phone back and looked back to Wonwoo. “I only live a few minutes away.” He said, taking the helmet Wonwoo offered as they began heading in the direction of the bike.

“You’ll have to get my attention and point out when we get close to a turn or anything.” Wonwoo said as soon as they are near the bike, setting the helmet down on the seat and turning the keys in the ignition to let it warm up for a little bit while they got ready. “I won’t be able to hear you over the engine and wind probably, so we’ll figure something out.” He said, tossing his gloves on the seat and readjusting his bag before turning fully to Junhui again. “C’mere, sweetheart.” He urged, a soft, fond smile tugging at his lips.

Junhui walked closer, handing over the helmet and letting him slip it over his head and fasten it so it’s secure and not going anywhere. Wonwoo let himself linger there for a moment before reaching for his helmet and slipping it on, fastening the strap with practiced ease and tugging his gloves on.

Wonwoo flexed his hands a few times to get the gloves situated before he swings a leg over the bike and pushes up the kickstand, looking back to Junhui expectantly. Before he could even say for him to do it, Wonwoo felt him swing his leg over better than he had done the first time, settling up against his back like he’d done before.

Wonwoo forced himself to ignore it as he backed them out of the spot before shifting up out of neutral.

Junhui’s arms wrapped around his middle almost impossibly tighter than they had the first time, and Wonwoo felt like his heart was going to jump out of his chest.

_Fuck_.

“We’re headed near fifth street, if you know where that is.” Junhui yelled over the idle engine, and Wonwoo simply nodded, heading out of the parking lot and setting off out of the campus.

As soon as they were out on a straight stretch, Wonwoo let the throttle out and shot them forward, laughing when Junhui’s arms tightened further and he heard him laugh loudly over the engine, not at all scared anymore. 

Wonwoo took them to fifth street, getting a few streets down before he saw Junhui’s hand in the corner of his visor holding up a two and then pointing to the side street they were passing, and Wonwoo nodded again, feeling Junhui’s head settle back against his shoulder. As soon as he spotted the second next street branching off he pointed to it, slowing down and he felt Junhui nod at him, giving him the go-ahead and Wonwoo turned off there, keeping the bike going slower since he now didn’t know the streets.

Soon enough, Junhui’s hand appeared again, pointing at a turning lane and Wonwoo followed his directions, turning and a few seconds later he spotted an apartment building, slowing all the way down and just rolling up to the entrance.

Junhui got off when they stopped fully and stayed close, letting Wonwoo reach up and help him out of his helmet taking it to strap in on the side of the bike. He paused in surprise when Junhui reached out and lifted Wonwoo’s visor, it probably clearly showing on his face.

“Thank you, Wonwon. You really didn’t have to, but thank you.” He said with a bright grin, leaning forward and before Wonwoo could even get over the nickname, Junhui was dangerously close to him.

Wonwoo watched with wide eyes as he got almost nose to nose with him before Junhui moves to the side a bit, pressing what Wonwoo had to guess was a kiss to where his cheek would be under the helmet, effectively giving Wonwoo a heart attack and ripping a strangled out noise of him.

When Junhui pulled back he had a dangerous glint in his eyes and a bright knowing grin on his lips. “I see you around, then.” He said with a laugh, and before Wonwoo could even fully process what just happened, Junhui was turning to head into his building and in a few seconds, he was disappearing into it.

_What the fuck just happened?_

The next day while he and Hansol met up for lunch on campus, Wonwoo relayed the event to him in an attempt to figure out what the hell that was and what it could possibly even mean, because Wonwoo’s head was still fuzzy from it.

“He what?!” Hansol said a bit too loudly for Wonwoo liking, making him quickly shush the other before continuing to explain it.

“I gave him a ride home yesterday because Minghao was caught up in the library with Mingyu, who rode with me that morning.” Wonwoo began explaining, taking a sip of his coffee again and taking his time before continuing on. “When we got to his apartment building I helped him out of his helmet because he doesn’t know how the straps work yet, right? You remember how tricky they can be.” He continued, and Hansol nodded along, sipping his own drink idly as he listened to everything. “And as I finish strapping in the spare helmet to the bike he flips up my visor and then before I know it he’s leaning in to kiss my helmet where my cheek would be! And then he just said goodbye and walked away! I thought I was going to pass out right then and there! I don’t know what this could possibly mean.” Wonwoo said, his voice turning slightly into a whine at the end, clearly messed up about this.

Hansol stared at him like he’d just told him something unbelievable, and Wonwoo had to agree that it sounded odd. “He kissed your helmet? “ Hansol asked, and Wonwoo nodded. “Did he do like, anything else off? Anything that might help figure this out?”

Wonwoo thought back, but nothing stuck out at him. “Not that I know of? But isn’t it weird, right? Why would he do that?” Wonwoo rambled, running a hand through his hair before taking another sip of his coffee.

“I mean… maybe he‘s interested in you, Won.” Hansol said after a moment, and Wonwoo almost spat out his coffee then and there. “It’s not impossible, you know. Just wait it out and see if more things happen to show he’s into you.” Hansol advised, and he guessed that was a better plan than his original ‘don’t wear a helmet around him so he can’t kiss it again’ plan.

“Okay,” Wonwoo said after a few moments, not liking the fact that he didn’t know what was going on, but at this point, he had no other option except just _ask_ Junhui and he was not about to do that.

_He’ll wait._

Wonwoo doesn’t see Junhui around for a few weeks, and he doesn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed.

Mingyu managed to rope him into going to the same guy’s party as the last one he’d gone to, and after a whole morning he did give in and agree to the plans for tonight.

Wonwoo got ready that night grumpily, having a book that was calling his name to finally finish taunting him from his bed the entire time. He didn’t bother to dress up that much, just tugging on an over-sized sweater and skinny jeans before coming to the age-old decision.

Should he wear anything in case someone breaks his glasses or he falls asleep in his contacts again?

It takes a minute, but he finally gives in and grabs his glasses from the case, slipping them on and retrieving his phone from the bed before heading out to the living room to see if the others are ready. In the span of a few minutes all three of them left in Seungcheol’s car for the party.

A half-hour later Wonwoo was in the middle of a very loud, music and body filled house.

This wasn’t Wonwoo’s scene at all, even if he mostly was convinced by the two to tag along majorly ever time. He didn’t mind the drinking or music that much, but all the crowds and touchy drunk people irritated him. He’d rather just stay home than deal with them, but Mingyu and Seungcheol wanted him here tonight.

Mingyu disappeared into the crowd as soon as he got inside to go look for Minghao, leaving him and Seungcheol to go get a drink by themselves.

“So how’s Jeonghan?” He asked over the rim of his cup, watching in amusement as Seungcheol nearly choked on his drink.

It took a few seconds, but eventually he got his breath back enough to speak. “Ah, he’s good, you send him to me that day, didn’t you?” He asked, and a telling grin crossed over Wonwoo’s lips. “He’s… He’s really nice and really beautiful and I kind of want to ask him out but I’m scared I’ll get rejected.” He rambled, and Wonwoo just gave him a deadpan stare as he moved his cup away from his face.

“You’re kidding me.” He said, but the nervous gleam in Seungcheol’s eyes told him otherwise. “Cheol, is he here tonight?” He asked, and the man wasted no time in nodding quickly. “Then go find him and ask him on a date you idiot. He’s been trying to get your attention since he met you and you’re too blind to see it.” He fussed and Seungcheol sputtered for a moment before nodding, taking another sip of his drink before heading to find him.

“Thank you, Wonwoo. You should take your own advice too.” He said with a giddy grin, and Wonwoo's mind blanked before giving him what he hoped was a convincing smile back.

For another half hour neither Mingyu or Seungcheol came back to find him, and occasionally someone would recognize him in the low light and greet him, but for the most part Wonwoo was left alone to relax and drink against a wall.

_Then his eyes caught something._

Across the dance floor two men looked like they were arguing, one obviously shying away from the other, who looked angry.

Wonwoo watched for a while, trying to decide in his mind that was getting fuzzy at the quickly disappearing second drink of whatever concoction the frat had cooked up if he should intervene. Before he could figure it out though, the man who was shying away’s eyes met his, and Wonwoo’s blood ran ice cold.

_Junhui._

Wonwoo held his stare, watching Junhui recognize him in the matter of a second and send him a look that clearly screamed ‘help me!’ before his attention was ripped back to the man again.

Sober Wonwoo would have probably done the same thing, but tipsy Wonwoo felt a surge of possessiveness and he was going to fucking rip that guy away from Junhui.

Wonwoo downed the last of his cup and made quick work of making his way through the crowd and to Junhui as quick as he could and tossing his cup in a trash bag when he came across one.

It didn’t take long for him to shove though everyone and find Junhui again, and when he did, his temper flew through the roof.

_The man had Junhui by the arm now, not letting him slip away._

Wonwoo quickly shoved himself in the middle of them, forcefully ripping the man’s hand off of Junhui with what he would guess would be a snarl by now. Immediately, the man’s attention went to Wonwoo instead and they were nose to nose, both glaring each other down.

“Don’t. Fucking. Touch. Him.” He hissed out his hands clenching and relaxing by his sides. _He didn’t want Junhui to see him fight, he didn’t want Junhui to have to see anyone fight. He wanted Junhui safe and away from this asshole._

The man laughed arrogantly, obviously not taking Wonwoo seriously. “And who are you? Some white night trying to save the college prude?” He asked, and Wonwoo’s felt like he was going to explode, but then he felt two hands curl into the back of his sweater and Wonwoo was a fucking inch away from breaking this guy’s nose.

“Jeon Wonwoo, his fucking boyfriend.” He spat before he could really think about what he was saying, watching as the recognition of that name and the situation he thought he was in settling into his bones. Of course Wonwoo wasn’t going to break the guy’s arm, maybe throw a punch to break his nose, but he’s never done more than that to anyone, and the rumors weren't true at all. He’s fought someone maybe five times in his lifetime, but the rumors were in his favor right now, and you bet he was going to use that as much as he could. Even if it meant lying right now.

Flashes of different conflicting emotions cross over the guy’s face before it just turns into frustration, looking at Wonwoo for a bit before glancing back to Junhui behind him, muttering out an angry ‘whatever’ before storming away and disappearing back into the crowd.

Wonwoo watched him leave and waited a moment to make sure he wasn’t coming back before letting out a breath before turning to look at Junhui, concern quickly overpowering the anger.

_Junhui_.

“Hey...” He trailed off, his eyes fluttering over Junhui’s face before fully meeting his eyes. Junhui still looked a bit shaken but for the most part he looked fine, and that was a huge relief. “What the hell was that?” He asked, finally actually taking in how good Junhui looked tonight in flowy shirt and tight skinny jeans.

“He asked me out and wasn’t going to take no for an answer, people sometimes get like that, it’s not a big deal.” Junhui said, giving him a soft and thankful smile and Wonwoo just sputtered for a moment because it was. “I don’t remember you ever asking me out either though, Wonwon.” He said with a soft laugh, his mood lightening quickly with Wonwoo here now.

“Okay, first of all, yes it _is_ a big deal! He was all in your face and grabbed onto you, Jun, that’s _crazy_.” Wonwoo fussed, wanting to just get a list of all the people that have done this to him and make sure they get the message not to do it again. “Secondly- I didn’t- I didn’t _mean_ to say it, it just was the best thing I could think of to get him away from you and if you’re connected to me in some way then it’ll at least warn off some people.” He rushed out, his ears going pink in embarrassment at how he’d suddenly dropped that.

He fiddled with his too-long sleeves curling the ends into his palm nervously as he watched Junhui’s confidence surge back.

“Awe are you saying you wouldn’t ask me out?” Junhui teased, stepping closer and Wonwoo felt his brain short circuit, his eyes going wide and freezing up. Junhui gripped his sweater again, this time tangling them in just under Wonwoo’s collarbones.

_Wonwoo was going to have a heart attack._

“I- What-” Wonwoo stuttered, blinking dumbly at him, not knowing what to do right now. Wen fucking Junhui was almost nose to nose with him and Wonwoo held himself back with every ounce of strength he had left.

Junhui laughed softly, grinning happily at the fact that he could disarm Wonwoo so easily by just one teasing line and coming a little closer. “You’re easy to fluster, it’s cute for a supposed to be bad boy.” He teased further, but he did finally release Wonwoo’s sweater and he noticed Junhui finally take in Wonwoo's appearance. “I didn’t know you wore glasses.” He said curiously and Wonwoo blinked a few times, realizing that Junhui’s never seen him in anything other than his contacts.

Wonwoo instinctively reached up to push up his glasses out of instinct, giving Junhui a soft smile. “Yeah, my contacts aren’t perfectly my prescription, but I don’t like riding with my glasses on. It gives me a headache.” He explained, a flush light on his cheekbones.

“Cute.” Junhui said, a flash teeth appearing in his smile, and Wonwoo almost melted at that directed at him. “Want to get a drink and dance a bit? I don’t have a roommate curfew tonight.” Junhui offered, and Wonwoo nodded, a bit surprised that he didn’t want to hang out with his friends over Wonwoo, a guy he for the most part barely knew.

They made their way over to a spot where they could get themselves a drink, the buzz from Wonwoo’s earlier drinks have halfway wore off so he’s thankful for any courage he can get help with. Junhui is stunning tonight and Wonwoo doesn’t think he’ll make it out tonight unscathed if Junhui, a dance major, wants to dance together. Wonwoo could dance well enough to hold his own, but tipsy Wonwoo was messy in general, and now he had a cute guy drinking with him and he was already really bad around Junhui in the first place.

“I think the guy might have started talking, people keep looking at us.” Junhui said after they have finished half of their drink.

Wonwoo looked up surprised, eyes locking onto Junhui before scanning the crowd, finding a few eyes watching them curiously. He didn’t really think about what to do after that lie, or what it was going to happen with other people finding out, so right now he was reeling with the reality of the situation.

“I’m so sorry, _god_, it didn't even cross my mind that he’d probably tell people about it.” Wonwoo apologizes, a sheepish smile curling his lips.

What surprised Wonwoo though, was that Junhui didn’t seem upset at _all_, he looked like he didn’t mind it actually.

“Well, people were already talking when you took me to class and then rumors about us possibly dating popped up the day you took me home, so it isn’t really a big deal.” Junhui said as if it was nothing, and as if Wonwoo couldn’t dirty his image. “So what if they think we’re dating, we’ll know the truth. Plus, you talked about maybe being close to you would deter people, and if they think I’m _dating_ you, that’s the best deterrent, you know?” Junhui reasoned, and Wonwoo was at a loss for what to say. Yes, it was a good deterrent, but Wonwoo actually wanted to date Junhui and kiss him and be close to him but this was just pretend and Wonwoo didn’t know how good he’d be at that without falling in too deep.

But Junhui looked so content with it right now, that Wonwoo decided if it helped Junhui, then he’d do it.

“Yeah, I suppose so.” Wonwoo agreed and knocked back the rest of his booze. “You know that means we’ll have to occasionally put on a show to keep it alive, right?” He asked, and Junhui was just grinning behind the rim of his cup.

_“I know.”_

At this point, Wonwoo was tipsy again, and Junhui seemed to be in the same boat as him as they both threw away their cups.

Before he could properly react and try to get out of it, Junhui’s hand took his and laced their fingers together, pulling Wonwoo along as he made his way into the crowd of bodies dancing, easily finding them a spot. Junhui turned around to him suddenly, and Wonwoo wasn’t sober enough to completely have control of his motor skills like he usually would, and he stumbled slightly in surprise, falling against Junhui who caught him surprisingly easily, laughing brightly.

“Sor-Sorry.” He apologized, regaining his footing but Junhui’s other hand that had wound around his waist didn’t budge for him to move away. Wonwoo’s eyes shot up to meet Junhui’s, who has a knowing mischievous glint there.

“Dance with me…” Junhui murmured loud enough for him to still hear, and Wonwoo’s eyebrows shot up, a protest on the tip of his tongue, but then Junhui was letting go of his hand and settling both hands-on Wonwoo’s hips, starting to sway to the bass line.

_Fuck_.

_Wonwoo was fucked._

Hesitantly he moved to drape his arms around Junhui’s shoulders, not at all used to anything remotely close to this. He could do grinding at clubs with the right alcohol in his system, but none of that was with Wen fucking Junhui’s fingers digging into his hips as if he didn’t want to even let Wonwoo possibly move away an inch.

That earned a bright grin from Junhui, and everything tonight slowly was becoming worth it to have Junhui’s attention like this, even if it might just be tonight.  
“Just move to the beat, Minghao told me you’re not bad, so there’s no weaseling out.” Junhui said and Wonwoo’s ears turned pink at the fact that he could see straight through him so easily. Wonwoo began to move a bit, and Junhui’s body responded immediately, fully moving to the beat and gradually, Wonwoo was too.

“That’s it. See? You’re really good at this.” Junhui praised, and that did something to Wonwoo’s chest.

“I never said I wasn’t.” Wonwoo countered and Junhui just grinned at him knowingly, making a grin appear on Wonwoo’s own.

Junhui never stepped any closer into Wonwoo’s space, even if their bodies were only a few inches apart by the end of the night when everyone was told the party was ending. Wonwoo was thankful for that, even if he probably would have happily welcomed him in this blissed-out mindset. This was doing nothing to help Wonwoo keep his feelings at bay, and sober Wonwoo was going to be pissed.

They separated after a moment when the lights fully came on. Wonwoo nervously curled up his sleeves into his palm again, now realizing the curious looks they must have been getting as he scanned the crowd for the first time since they had begun dancing.

It must look odd, the school’s rumored bad boy and the untouchable dancer so close together.

_Oh well, he’ll deal with everything tomorrow._

“I should probably go find Hao, he’s me and Hannie’s ride tonight unless you want to sweep me away on your bike again.” Junhui said, running a hand through his hair and chuckling to himself, meanwhile that made Wonwoo laugh.

  
_He really wanted to sweep him away, but right now wasn’t the time nor place._  
_He needed to somehow find Seungcheol._

  
“Not tonight, sorry.” He said, grinning as he tapped his glasses to remind him of the earlier conversation. “I see you around, Junnie.” Wonwoo said, giving him one last grin before he moved to disappear into the crowd.

Wonwoo sent off a text to the sober Seungcheol, telling him he’s waiting at the car.

The moment they all settled into the car, Mingyu babbling on about something way too loudly in the front seat and Wonwoo taking the back seat to avoid the eventual conversation all of them were going to have to have in the morning.

He slept the ride home, only waking up when the car stopped and the engine cut off.

That night Wonwoo didn’t say a word to anyone, instead going to his room and stripping down to his underwear before ungracefully climbing under the covers and instantly falling asleep.

Wonwoo woke up the next day _very _unhappily.

Before he even opened up his eyes he felt a headache appearing already, making him groan and press his eyes tighter closed as if it was going to help him block out the rays of sunlight that had woken him up.

After a few minutes of trying and failing to go back to sleep Wonwoo finally accepted that he was going to have to get up and out of bed, moving his legs for the first time and realizing even with the splitting headache, he had a really fucking bad case of morning wood.

Wonwoo let out a groan for a completely different reason this time, one of his hands that were currently behind his head slipping under the blankets and dipping into his briefs. He had bad luck with trying to chase away morning wood most of the time, so he always just tried to get it over with as quickly as he could.

Faintly, his mind wandered to what must have happened last night as he began palming himself, his eyes fluttering closed again at the sudden relief of pleasure. He could remember Junhui faintly, just brief glimpses back into the night, and when he thought harder, it clicked that they had been dancing together for the last half of the night.

Wonwoo stifled another groan as he remembered Junhui’s hands on him, tightly gripping his hips in between smoothing across his sides and looping around to his back. His cock stirred at the still fresh feeling, and faintly Wonwoo knew he shouldn’t be doing this, he shouldn’t be getting off while thinking of Junhui. But he was tired and horny and hungover, so his mind hadn’t fully rebooted back up this morning.

Wonwoo yanked down the waistband of his underwear, freeing himself and stifling a moan this time as he wrapped his hand tightly around himself, the thought of what it might feel like if it was Junhui’s hand instead flashing across his mind.

_Fuck_.

Flashes of Junhui crowded up against him, one arm cornering him in beside his head and the other hand wrapped around his cock, talking to him in the same low, playful voice as he had used last night.

A flood of heat surged through Wonwoo, what would have been a loud moan escaped him if he hadn’t muffled it with his free hand in time.  
His hand finally picked up and started a rough, fast pace, not taking the time to be careful with himself or dragging it out.

Soft, small noises escaped him into his hand as he quickly neared his limit with that image and feeling bright in his mind.

It didn’t take long before Wonwoo was spilling over his hand with a soft whine, his hips jerking up into his tight grip. His orgasm crashed over him more intensely than he could ever remember happening solo, and it took a good while before he came down from the high.

He groggily wiped his hand on his stomach to get rid of the mess for now, flopping back down on the bed and trying to regain his breath.

_He’d just come that hard from the sheer thought of Junhui._

_Great._

He took a few minutes to calm down before he could bring himself to move, throwing the rest of his blankets off of him and groaning as he got up out of the bed.

_He needed a shower._

Wonwoo walked out of his room with a clean pair of clothes in his hand, luckily not running into the other two men living in the apartment. Wonwoo stripped down quickly and hopped into the shower, trying to forget about what just happened and what he just did.

“Fuck…” he groaned, washing his body and then his hair, the shame of the act slowly settling into his mind.

He hoped he could still look at Junhui in the eyes after last night and this morning.

Wonwoo didn’t take long in the shower, quickly moving to towel himself off and get dressed. He made his way into the kitchen where he surprisingly found Minghao, who looked completely fine this morning, so Wonwoo guessed he was the one that drove the other two back home.

Minghao’s eyes trailed over him, taking in how wrecked he still looked and Wonwoo’s ears heated up, quickly moving to the coffee machine in the corner of the room and starting it up.

“You really had fun last night.” He said with a knowing grin, making Wonwoo tense up a bit as he waited for the drink to finish. “There’s a picture of you two along with the words you pulled against the guy making its way around campus.” He commented, and Wonwoo’s attention shot to him, his eyes wide at the mention of the picture.

“What?!” Wonwoo squeaked, freezing up fully.

As bad as people wanted to believe Wonwoo was, he actually was quite reserved and even shy if he got embarrassed. Yeah, he could get angry if he was prodded at, but he wouldn’t willingly fight unless he was pushed to it. He only looked like he was glaring, and therefore intimidating, because he wore contacts and they weren’t as strong as his glasses. They worked most of the time, but things far away occasionally became fuzzy and he squinted to clear it.

Minghao chuckled at the obvious worry on Wonwoo’s features before waving him off. “It’s blurry, but it isn’t anything scandalous.” He said offhandedly, not nearly as concerned about this as Wonwoo was becoming. “A few people are mad at the fact they think that Jun had a boyfriend all along, but I bet they’ll leave him alone for right now at least.”

_Wonwoo didn’t know how to take this information._

“And he’s okay with this? Did he say anything about it?” Wonwoo asked, hearing his coffee stop and turning back to it for something to do. “I didn’t mean for it to happen, but someone was harassing him and I said the first thing I could think of to make them leave him alone.”

Minghao hummed behind him as he took the coffee beside the fridge to pour a bit of creamer inside. “Yeah, he told us all about it last night and this morning.” Minghao said calmly, and Wonwoo almost choked on his spit.

“You _know_ why this is a bad idea, right?” He asked, but Wonwoo didn’t receive a response, so he continued. “We will have to act like a couple in front of people, Minghao. That means couple things like holding hands and all. I don’t know if I can do that without falling deeper and getting hurt.” Wonwoo reminded, and when he turned around, Minghao was looking at him with an unfamiliar gleam in his eyes.

“Junhui would never hurt you or intentionally lead you on.” He countered and Wonwoo deadpanned, taking a sip of his coffee before responding over the rim of it.

“It’s not him I’m worried about, it’s that I don’t trust _myself_ to not fall in love with him if we pretend.” He said quietly, honesty bleeding into his voice. “You saw how quickly I was falling for him with just seeing him twice and knowing nothing about him, what am I supposed to do now?”

Minghao’s features settled back into one of understanding, finally understanding Wonwoo’s panic. “Wonwoo, we both know you’re on the way to fully falling for him regardless, so why not enjoy yourself for a bit? Junhui won’t hate you suddenly if you develop more serious feelings regardless of what he feels, he isn’t that type of person.” He lectured and Wonwoo just groaned and took another sip of his coffee. “Both of you would get something from this, and if things go wrong or you decide it’s too much, call it off and I’ll let it out that you two broke up.”

Wonwoo looked away for a moment, weighing his options and what he was going to sacrifice for this if he did it, but when he really thought about it and how scared Junhui had looked last night, it was an easy choice.

“Can you send me his classes? If I’m doing this I’m going to do it right.” He said, and a big grin erupted on Minghao’s lips at the acceptance.

_What is he getting himself into?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome to Wonwoo's gay panic and struggles, and Junhui attempting to literally give him a heart attack.
> 
> the plot has picked up and we're running with it now, so I hope you liked it! It just gets better(worse) from here.
> 
> my [twitter](https://twitter.com/softency) is the best place to find me and talk about these stupid boys <3
> 
> any feedback is highly appreciated and welcomed! it helps me sort out my thoughts and keep motivated to write this :)


	3. best friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was a pause before the other spoke, those soft eyes watching him closely. “You do know that there’s a reason for both of you guys being left alone, right?” He started and Wonwoo just looked at him with clear confusion in his eyes. “There’s your reputation, for Junhui. But then there’s an incident that happened the day after you dropped him off that first time, Junhui threatened to beat up someone in his dance class for calling you a few nasty things. Like he fully got into the guy’s face and looked like he was a second away from throwing a punch.” He explained, and Wonwoo’s eyes widened drastically. 
> 
> "Oh."

How Wonwoo managed this on his bike was a fucking _ mystery _ to himself, but two days later he found himself waiting outside of a classroom that he didn’t know, in a side of the main building that he’d only been in once or twice, holding two cups of coffee and drinking his own as he waited.

He wasn’t left waiting for too long, probably five minutes before he heard people moving around inside the classroom and after a few seconds the door opened and they started to file out. 

Wonwoo waited patiently, acting like he didn’t see the surprised and curious looks thrown at him by people who must have heard the news already. On the inside though, he was completely embarrassed and was wondering if this was even a good idea, showing up to surprise Junhui like this.

Before he could panic and start to overthink everything to the point of cursing himself for guessing what Junhui’s coffee order was by what Minghao told him he liked, he spotted the face he was waiting for. 

Junhui seemed to be engrossed in talking to a girl, but she quickly took notice to Wonwoo standing there and nudged Junhui with her elbow before nodding once in Wonwoo’s direction. Junhui stopped what he was saying to look at her in confusion before following her eyes and his jaw practically dropped when he realized Wonwoo was here, waiting for Junhui specifically with two cups. Junhui almost stumbled over his feet, but quickly caught himself, the shock quickly melting away into a happy, excited grin as he practically lit up. He turned back to the girl, saying something and she smiled at him and nodded before he split off from her and broke through the steady stream of people.

As soon as Junhui was in arms reach, Wonwoo was rethinking this entire thing. They hadn’t talked since the party, so maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Fuck. He messed up didn’t he? He really wasn't cut out for this sort of thing, maybe he should just tell Junhui-

He felt lips against his cheek for a split second, and it took him a few long moments before he realized Junhui had kissed his cheek as a greeting. 

_ Junhui was going to kill him. He was going to die from a heart attack. Cheol and Mingyu were going to laugh their ass off at his funeral. _

“Hey…” Wonwoo breathed out, taking in how good Junhui looked, which seemed to be a regular occurrence every time he’s seen him so far. Curse Junhui for looking so good all the damn time. 

“Hey yourself, isn’t today your off day?” Junhui asked with a soft laugh, the bright smile never leaving his lips, and everything (the people around them, the background chatter, the unfamiliar hallway) seemed to fade. 

_ Junhui was so breathtakingly beautiful _. 

Wonwoo rose an eyebrow, thankfully able to reign himself back in before Junhui or anyone for that matter could pick up on his internal gay panic. “If I can’t bring my boyfriend coffee after his nine am class, then what am I good for?” He joked, his tone not as visibly playful as Junhui’s when he teased and joked, but it didn’t seem to phase the man at all as he let out a soft giggle. 

“I don’t know, maybe they're both for you to get back at me for how we met.” Junhui commented, and Wonwoo deadpanned, letting out a small thoughtful hum. 

“Actually, now that you mention it I could go for another cup, it’s early and I drove all the way here for my boyfriend with two cups on my bike. He doesn’t seem to have come to class today-” Wonwoo said, pretending to scan the thinning crowd of people as if he was looking for someone, but before he could get too far into the charade, Junhui was suddenly plastered to his side and an arm snaked around his waist, making him have to hold out his arms a bit to keep the coffee from spilling. 

“_I’m _ your boyfriend, you ass.” Junhui said while laughing brightly, his face just inches away from his own, and a grin erupted on Wonwoo’s lips at the achievement of earning that. “No take backs, I thought that was obvious.” He added, still giggling as he accepted the full cup of coffee from Wonwoo as he offered it. 

“I almost got hot coffee on my dick on the ride over here, so please drink it so my near heart attack wasn’t wasted.” He said, and he _ had _almost spilled the coffee all across his lap from the nerves when they were handed to him by the worker. 

Junhui busted out with a loud, bright laugh that echoed through the hall, causing some heads to turn towards them, but all Wonwoo could focus on was how badly he wanted to lean in and kiss him right now. 

“You really don’t have to.” Junhui said for what must now be the fifth time as they neared his bike. 

They had spent Junhui’s free hour between classes eating a few brownies from the campus cafe and talking, both of them surprisingly falling into the relationship role easily. 

“And let you walk all the way there? Nope, that qualifies as a bad boyfriend and I’m the _ best_.” Wonwoo countered, retrieving his helmet and gloves from where they were secured against his bike before starting it up. “Bring your ass over here or I’ll walk you all the way to your class and you won’t get to hug me.” Wonwoo taunted, not thinking too much about it at this point. 

“You love my ass though.” Junhui countered even as he stepped closer than honestly necessary, letting Wonwoo strap him into the helmet without any protest. 

“Hell yeah I do, but that’s not the point.” Wonwoo said carelessly, flicking down the visor with a grin and tugging on his gloves. He slung his leg over the bike, straightening it up and kicking up the kickstand. 

Without needing to be prompted this time, Junhui slipped onto the bike behind him, this time for the first time without Wonwoo’s backpack separating them. Junhui pressed tight against him, his arms looping dangerously low around Wonwoo’s waist, hand settling right on his belt. Wonwoo shifted a bit, getting more comfortable as Junhui relaxed into him. He led the bike out, letting it roll for a moment before picking up his feet and giving the bike gas, cruising towards the exit of the parking lot. It only took a minute before they got over to the arts building, Junhui reluctantly getting off when they came to a stop.

Wonwoo gently took the helmet off of him, a soft, fond smile pulling up his lips. Neither of them said anything in the process, but the Wonwoo felt Junhui’s lips on his cheek again and Wonwoo’s cheeks flushed red, not expecting that at all. 

“I’ll see you later, baby.” Junhui said with a teasing smile, and Wonwoo idly wondered if he was going to have to deal with this every time he saw the man, because his heart probably couldn’t handle that.

“Have fun Junnie.” He said with a soft laugh to disguise it, starting to put the helmet on himself and once he finishes, Junhui suddenly reached over and flips up his visor, surprising him. 

“Thank you for today, Wonwoo.” He said so softly and sincerely that Wonwoo had trouble telling if this was part of the act or not.

Wonwoo nodded, shifting his weight anxiously. “It’s nothing really. Get to class before you’re late.” Wonwoo said, shifting his bike out of neutral and back into first gear. He reached out and lightly patted Junhui’s chest, laughing as Junhui caught it in his own grip and threaded their fingers together. “_Hey, _ no, go to class.” Wonwoo fussed in almost a whine, taking a few steps forward on the bike to take his hand back, but Junhui just walked along the sidewalk with him, not letting go and not giving Wonwoo any leverage to take back his hand. Wonwoo groaned dramatically, swinging their hands a few times but Junhui seemed to have latched onto him. “I have to go, you won’t go to class until I leave and I’m not letting you be late.” Wonwoo said, a bright, goofy grin on his lips at the situation he was in.

If he focused hard enough, it almost felt real.

Junhui practically pouted at that, his thumb tracing over Wonwoo’s before he let out a huff and stepped forward. Wonwoo watched him get closer, not realizing it until it was too late that Junhui was leaning in again. Before he could reel back, Junhui pressed a kiss level to where his mouth would be under the helmet, making Wonwoo draw back and almost fall off his bike in shock, letting out a sharp noise in surprise.

A laugh bubbled out of Junhui again, looking satisfied as he did let go of Wonwoo this time. “Go on, I’ll see you again soon.” Junhui said as he spared him one last playful glance before turning and making his way into the building.

_It took Wonwoo two entire minutes to slow his heart rate back down enough to drive home._

The next day as their trio sat down at their usual table near the back of the cafeteria, both of Wonwoo’s friends pestering him for answers about what the entire school was buzzing about; Wonwoo and Junhui actually officially dating and them becoming a power couple or something along those lines. Wonwoo hasn’t heard much talk, but that’s understandable because _ he’s _ the one in the rumor and not a lot of people come up to him on a daily basis to just chat.

They had got most of it out of Wonwoo as they began digging into their lunch when suddenly the two across the table were looking behind Wonwoo in shock, making him start to turn around but before he could get far someone was suddenly plopping down in the same bench seat as him, scaring the hell out of him.

Wonwoo almost threw his sandwich from his hand with how his body jolted, nearly falling off of the seat and he could hear Seungcheol and Mingyu laughing at his reaction. His heart was pounding hard against his rib cage, stealing away his breath as he finally looked to the person- _ Junhui_, who was sitting there grinning at him like he’d done nothing wrong, his tray now sitting beside Wonwoo’s.

“Hi baby.” Junhui murmured softly and Wonwoo felt an arm snake around his waist, resting a hand on his hip. Junhui was grinning at him brightly, and Wonwoo was still reeling from the shock. “Hope you don’t mind us joining your group, Minghao told us we usually just miss you by a few minutes here.” 

Wonwoo faintly registered two more bodies sitting down and Seungcheol letting out a sound of shock as he was surprised by Jeonghan the same way that Wonwoo had been with Junhui. 

His attention stayed on Junhui thought, not daring to break the small bubble between them. It took him a few long moments before breaking through his haze and go back to eating, not making any move to take Junhui’s arm off of him. 

It was surprisingly easy for all of them to fall into conversation and relax together, the two separate groups easily fusing into one. 

Wonwoo at some point had relaxed fully into Junhui’s arms, leaning back against the other’s chest a bit. If he moved any closer he’d end up in Junhui’s lap, and Wonwoo didn’t let his quick moving thoughts take this small moment away from him this time. 

“You two are _ really _good at this.” Jeonghan commented after a while at Wonwoo and Junhui, both of their eyes moving to the blonde at the words. “If I didn’t know better I’d think you two were actually in love. If you guys did this the first day then I get why everyone believed it instantly.” He finished, popping a fry into his mouth, and that was more than enough to draw Wonwoo back and make him realize what he was doing.

_Idiot._

Wonwoo instantly withdrew back into his mind, scolding himself for letting go and going that far. The content and carefree expression was now replaced with something carefully hiding everything under the surface. Wonwoo sat up again, giving his best convincing laugh in response. 

“Yeah, we’re good enough friends to pull it off by now, we just kind of clicked.” Wonwoo said softly, straightening back up into his place again, but Junhui never took back his arm, if anything, the fingers that reached his stomach held on a tiny bit more firmly, small enough that Wonwoo didn’t notice.

Or the rest of their break Wonwoo stayed to himself, most of his emotions getting thrown around in his head along with rapid thoughts.

He guessed that brief moment of peace always had to end, after all.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Wonwoo said in disbelief, eyes wide as he turned the pants fabric over in his hands. “You’re crazy, I’m not wearing this.” 

Mingyu was in his room and had just tossed an outfit towards him, instructing him to get dressed because all of them were going to a Halloween party. 

Wonwoo was holding a fucking _ cop costume _in his hands and it looked like it would almost be tight on him. 

“C’mon Wonwoo, Junhui is going tonight and dressing up.” Mingyu all but whined, sitting on the bed and looking like he was a few seconds away from throwing all his weight onto Wonwoo. “You never dress up or do anything for Halloween anymore, you old man.” Mingyu fussed loudly.

Wonwoo scrunched up his nose in retaliation, eyeing the outfit again. “So you want me to be a _ cop_? Do you even have handcuffs?” He questioned, still not at all convinced to actually let Mingyu talk him into something like this.

“Okay but just _ think about _ it, Junhui usually gets you flustered, right? Tonight you can turn the tables.” Mingyu tried to reason, and that somewhat caught Wonwoo’s attention. “You’re going to look _ hot _ in it, if Junhui doesn’t even react just hook up with someone, because you’re really tightly wound and it would help-”

Wonwoo hit him in the chest, cutting off Mingyu and making him yelp in pain. 

“I’m not hooking up with _ anyone_.” He said firmly, narrowing his eyes at Mingyu before looking back to the clothes. “Are you sure this will even _ fit? _ It looks too small.” He asked, fulling picking the shirt up now and looking the black, tight fabric over. 

“It’ll fit, no worries. Just go get dressed and come with us.” Mingyu said and gave his best puppy dog eyes, and Wonwoo’s resolve slowly was crumbling. “Besides, Junhui is dressing up with the group, so you get to see him in a costume.” He added with a knowing grin, and Wonwoo pressed his lips together before letting out a soft sigh. 

_ Damn his curiosity and crush on Junhui. _

Wonwoo reluctantly got up, watching Mingyu as he cheered and excitedly went to get dressed himself, shutting Wonwoo’s door for him to get dressed too.

It took Wonwoo about thirty minutes to fully get ready, and twenty of them were just him getting dressed. These pants were practically glued to his legs like skinny jeans, and the shirt wasn’t tight, but it fit snug.

The moment he stepped out of his room, shirt tucked in under a belt that the handcuffs were handing off of, and his boots on his feet, Mingyu let out a wolf whistle and Wonwoo’s nose scrunched up in response.

_ He looked stupid, but Mingyu wasn’t going to let him out of it this far into it. _

“You look like sex on legs, _ Cheol! _ Come see!” He said too loudly for Wonwoo’s tastes, and he met Seungcheol’s eyes as soon as the other came out of his bedroom. He looked like he was dressed up as a vampire, and it actually wasn’t a bad look on him.

“You actually did it.” Seungcheol said with a soft laugh, obviously not thinking that Mingyu could convince him in time.

Wonwoo nodded, and after grabbing a few more things, they set off to the Halloween party, Wonwoo on his bike since he hadn’t planned to drink at all tonight, and the other two with Seungcheol.

The first thing Wonwoo noticed was that there were a lot of people here in countless different costumes, the second was that they had orange solo cups instead of the usual red and the mix looked like they’d dyed it purple.

Wonwoo noticed a few stares as the three of them moved inside the house but didn’t think much of them as they slowly managed to make their way towards where Mingyu said the other part of their group was at. It took longer than Wonwoo would have liked and he finally could spot the others, four now, Hansol was waiting there too.

But a hand latched onto his wrist, effectively stopping him from continuing onto the safety of a couch to the back of the room where there was significantly less people.

Wonwoo made a noise in his throat of surprise, glancing down at the hand before looking at them properly and his eyebrows drew together as he slowly realized it was a girl he didn’t know. 

“Uh, can I help you?” He asked grumpily, annoyed that he’d been stopped in the first place, and now it was some random chick dressed in a devil outfit. 

_ He wanted to go back to where he’d caught a glimpse of Hansol and see Junhui, not this girl. _

The girl smiled at him, her teeth flashing temptingly. 

_ Too bad he was extremely gay and into a guy that he can’t possibly have. _

“You’re Wonwoo, right?” She asked, and Wonwoo just rose an eyebrow, about to yank his arm out of her grip, but she moved closer and pressed her free hand on Wonwoo’s chest stilling him effectively from the surprise that she was _that_ _bold_. “You look really good tonight-” She began, but cut off when she took a glance over Wonwoo’s shoulder, her eyes widening. 

In the next second, two arms wrapped around his middle and he was pulled into a chest, the hold completely possessive and purposeful. Wonwoo let himself get drawn back from her and completely relaxed back into the touch, not knowing who this was but thankful anyways for the save.

“I wouldn’t touch what isn’t yours. It’s rude.” A voice said coldly right next to his ear, and Wonwoo practically melted into the found comfort that this was _ Junhui. _Junhui was here now and Wonwoo wouldn’t have to panic and try to get away from her. 

“Wait- It’s true then? You two are together?” She asked, otherwise not scared off by Junhui. 

“Of course it is.” Junhui snorted, wrapping around Wonwoo tighter. “Now if you’ll excuse us, I have kisses to steal tonight.” He finished, his voice clearly indicating that this entire interaction was done now and he halfway let go of Wonwoo so that he could lead him away and through the crowd with an arm tightly wrapped around Wonwoo’s waist still.

Before they got fully back to the couches, just as they broke through the last of the thick part of the crowd, Junhui stopped and spun to look directly at him. 

“I’m sorry if I pushed that too far, it just came out…” Junhui said, running a hand through his fringe and that was when Wonwoo finally took in Junhui’s costume tonight. 

_ He was going to have a heart attack truly this time. _

Junhui was in a black, long sleeve crop top and tight black ripped jeans. The thing that set Wonwoo off, though, were the cat ears on top of his head.

_ Fuck_.

“It’s fine.” He breathed, not stepping out of Junhui’s touch, and Junhui never made any move to retract his arm. “She was just trying to see what I actually am like I guess, because she knew my name.” Junhui hummed softly, giving him a soft smile before reluctantly urging him to continue on their way.

They turned up to the couch where Wonwoo immediately took notice of Seungcheol and Jeonghan sitting very close together, the first man leaning back against the couch as if to put space between them, but Jeonghan (dressed as Harley Quin, shorts and everything) was steadily leaning in as they talked.

_ Wonwoo wishes him luck, he’s going to need it. _

“You survived!” Hansol exclaimed, moving over towards Minghao who sat in the middle with Minghao. “I figured Junhui could rescue you the easiest, you know?” He said offhandedly, grinning at Wonwoo and taking in his costume. Hansol gave him an appreciative hum, putting on a show as he dragged his eyes down Wonwoo’s body as said man sat down beside him, lingering on his thighs before coming up again. “I knew you could pull that off, Won. You look really good.” He said in a fake flirty tone, just teasing, and Wonwoo could tell from their past that it was just playful banter, but the arm around his waist tightened dangerously.

Junhui sat down close beside him, their thighs brushing at this rate, and Wonwoo had to rapidly push down any reaction that threatened to bubble out of him. Junhui was probably just worried about Hansol breaking their rouse, he couldn’t actually be possessive over Wonwoo of all people, none of this was even_ real_.

“Thank you.” Wonwoo said with a soft, shy laugh as his ears turned a light shade of red nevertheless. “I wasn’t planning to come tonight, but Mingyu was pretty insistent I be here.” 

Time seemed to fly as everyone talked, and Wonwoo and Junhui had managed to stay the only ones sober aside from Seungcheol, who rarely drank outside of their apartment. 

Wonwoo had held off any and all urges to lean into the body so close to him, and Junhui had never removed his arm or even loosened its hold for that matter, still holding Wonwoo firmly to him. He didn’t understand why he was still putting on the act but he _ did _ know that it was fucking with his head, because it was already hard enough to decipher what was the real Junhui and what was his pretend boyfriend.

“You want to go dance?” Junhui suddenly asked, sounding bored of just staying in one place this long and Wonwoo couldn’t honestly blame him. 

Wonwoo turned his head towards him, a bit startled at how close their faces were. “I’m no good at it.” He murmured, his eyes trailing over Junhui’s features for the second time tonight. 

Junhui huffed at that, raising an eyebrow. “You’re lying to me, I can remember the last party.” He commented and a light flush crept onto Wonwoo’s cheeks at the fact that he _ did _ remember it after all. 

“You’re the dance major, why not ask Hao? He’s better than me certainly.” Wonwoo countered, watching as a frustrated look appeared on Junhui’s features.

“I don’t want to dance with _ him_, I want to dance with _ you _ tonight.” Junhui said, his voice suddenly much more clear over the background noise and emphasizing those words.

_ Oh. _

Wonwoo looked at Junhui with surprise decorating his features, a bit confused but he definitely could tell Junhui was completely serious. He stayed quiet for a few long moments before he nodded dumbly. “Okay.” He murmured and Junhui broke out in a bright smile, standing up with Wonwoo, but still never removing that damn arm from him as they made their way to the crowd.

Junhui’s arms securely wrapped around him when they found a spot, now closer to the speakers and all Wonwoo could mostly hear was the blasting music. Wonwoo stifled a sound of surprise, letting Junhui pull him close, closer than they had been the first time they danced together. Wonwoo hesitantly draped his arms over Junhui’s shoulders, their bodies only a few inches apart and brushing against each other every few movements. 

“You look good tonight.” Junhui said just barely loud enough for Wonwoo to hear, and it made the man’s cheeks flush at the compliment. “They really did a good job picking out your costume.” He added, both of them starting to move to the music. 

“Thank you, Jun.” Wonwoo said, a shy grin appearing on his lips as he finally met Junhui’s eyes again. Wonwoo didn’t really think that he looked all that great in it, but if Junhui and Hansol thought he did, then he couldn’t look too horrible. “You look nice too...” He murmured, watching Junhui’s eyes light up at the compliment. 

“Well, Mingyu told me you like cats.” Junhui commented, flustering a tiny bit, surprising Wonwoo fully. 

_ Oh. _

Wonwoo regarded him with a curious, playful look, his shyness slowly melting away for now. “Are you going to be my kitten or something, Junnie?” Wonwoo teased and he audibly heard Junhui’s breath hitch, the other’s expression shifting for a split second before it reverted back. “You like that nickname, huh?” He prompted, and Junhui slightly narrowed his eyes at the teasing.

“I do, baby.” Junhui said without hesitation, a sly grin on his lips. “I’m willing to bet you like pet names too.” He added, smoothing his hands across Wonwoo’s sides and making his body give a slight shudder in return. 

Wonwoo cheeks lit up again and a soft laugh bubbling out of him. “Keep teasing me and I’ll have a good use for the handcuffs.” He taunted, grinning at him before he let out a soft squeak and jumping slightly from Junhui pinching his side. 

“You shouldn’t assume that I wouldn’t like that.” Junhui said with a mischievous grin, his eyes getting that familiar dangerous glint in them. 

Wonwoo rose an eyebrow, finding the back of Junhui’s shirt collar and fiddling with it like he would with his sleeves out of habit. “Who knew you were just a huge flirt.” He commented, an amused smile on his lips. 

“There’s still a lot you probably don’t know.” Junhui said with a soft laugh, his hands smoothing back down to loop back around Wonwoo’s waist. “You’re getting there though.” He said with a fond look in his eyes that made Wonwoo on edge for some reason unknown to him, but he pushed through it stubbornly.

“I told you I want to; I want to know everything, kitten.” He said truthfully, and to his surprise, Junhui didn’t seem to have expected that, and he fully tensed up and looked at Wonwoo with wide eyes, his arms tightening around Wonwoo, and for a split second, Wonwoo thought he’d said something horribly wrong. 

But then Junhui spoke up.

“Whoever it was that you liked, they’re really lucky, Won. You’d be an amazing boyfriend, you softie.” Junhui commented softly, giving him a genuine smile, but there was something that Wonwoo couldn’t identify in his eyes. “Thank you again for doing this for me, no one has tried anything so far so it’s working.”

Wonwoo’s heart dropped.

_ Right, it wasn’t real. _

He needed to remember that.

“I doubt it, I don’t really have the best track record with being a perfect boyfriend.” Wonwoo admitted, and Junhui just scoffed at him.

“There’s no such thing as a _ perfect _boyfriend.” Junhui said a bit sternly and Wonwoo just looked at him with wide eyes, not really expecting the reaction. “You’re a catch. You don’t realize how many people on campus are attracted to you, do you?” He added and Wonwoo’s breath stuttered at that in surprise. “You’re really hot, baby. Like, smoking hot, I guess you’ve never caught anyone starring, but I certainly have.”

Wonwoo’s mind felt like goo. 

“I don’t…” He started, but stopped when he didn’t even know what he was about to say 

“Just don’t sell yourself short, okay?” Junhui asked of him, and Wonwoo nodded a tiny bit, instinctively letting Junhui move even closer and rest his head on Wonwoo’s shoulder. 

_What the hell is happening?_

They stayed like that for a while before they got tired of it and headed back to the group, Wonwoo breaking off to grab two drinks from the kitchen that _ weren’t _ the off looking booze he’s been seeing everywhere. 

Wonwoo easily found two water bottles in the fridge, grabbing them quickly and shutting the door and spinning around. He let out a noise of surprise when he turned and faced a man that was staring at him about a foot away in his path to leave the kitchen. 

He was about to tell the guy to move the hell out of the way because he was only interested in getting back to everyone, but then saw the nervous look on the guy’s face and the way he was shifting uneasily on his feet.

“Hey, do you need something?” He asked, a bit confused as he stepped closer and tried to figure out what the guy needed.  
The guy looked at him with wide eyes, almost like he was surprised Wonwoo even noticed him. He was cute, Wonwoo thought idly. He had curly, soft brown hair and is a few inches shorter than Wonwoo. He really was cute, truly, and Wonwoo could actually see himself asking him on a date in another timeline. 

“I just…” The guy started, before trailing off, running a hand through his hair and looking away for a moment and pulling his bottom lip between his teeth before looking back to meet Wonwoo’s eyes now with clear purpose. “I’ve had this crush on you for like a year now, and I just wanted to... let you know..? Since you’re dating Wen Junhui now I just wanted to get it out now, you know?” He said with a soft, shy smile. 

_ Wonwoo’s heart simultaneously warmed and dropped to his stomach at the confession. _

“Oh.” Wonwoo breathed out, relaxing a bit and giving him a soft smile and stopping in front of him. “Thank you, I’m really flattered.” He admitted softly, running a hand through his hair just knowing his ears were bright red by now.

“If it isn’t too much, could I dance with you tonight?” He asked in a tone so quiet that Wonwoo could barely hear him over the noise of the party around them. “It’s okay if you can’t, I wouldn’t want to make your or Junhui feel uncom-”

“Sure, I just need to bring these back to Jun and then we can dance.” Wonwoo said easily, surprising himself even at how willing he was to do this, but he could blame it on how Junhui had messed with his head earlier. “As long as you’re okay with the fact that I can’t give you anything more than a dance together, I don’t mind it.” Wonwoo added, gesturing for him to follow as he began to make his way out of the kitchen and towards the more quiet part of the house with the other boy beside him.

Wonwoo spotted Junhui before the other realized he was approaching, sitting in the same spot as earlier and looking bored. But then, Junhui looked up and met his eyes, and Junhui seemed to visibly light up and a smile pulled on his lips. Wonwoo walked up to him, giving him a smile back and not sitting down when Junhui moved over to give him room. He handed Junhui both of the waters with a reassuring smile.

“He asked me to dance with him just once, so I’ll be right back.” Wonwoo said loud enough that he could be heard without the others catching wind of it. 

As soon as the words came from his mouth, Junhui’s eyes snapped to look for whoever Wonwoo was talking about, and his expression immediately steeled off, preventing Wonwoo from seeing into what Junhui was thinking like he usually could. From what Wonwoo could see though, he wasn’t very excited to hear the news. 

“I’ll be back in a bit and then we can dance more or whatever you want to, alright?” Wonwoo said, straightening up and glancing back to the other man. “He just asked for one dance, Junnie. I’ll be back right after.” He reassured, and Junhui finally looked back to him. 

_ Junhui almost looked jealous, if Wonwoo didn’t know better. _

Junhui pressed his lips together, watching Wonwoo for a moment before letting out a sigh and nodding. 

Wonwoo gave him a relieved smile and nodded a bit himself, looking back to the man. He gently led the other to the dance floor, disappearing into the crowd so that they could just be alone for their small moment. 

Before he could think much about it, the other’s arms were looping over his shoulders and he let out a soft chuckle in surprise, moving closer and setting his hands on the man’s waist. 

“How did you meet Junhui? You two just seem like a really surprising couple is all.” The man said and Wonwoo felt a soft smile pull on his lips. 

“We ran into each other- like _ literally _ ran into each other and I dropped my coffee to catch him from falling. He looked so scared and couldn’t talk.” Wonwoo said with a soft, fond chuckle escaping him. “From then on we kind of just ran into each other and eventually we finally sat down and got to know each other. That was the day we got caught on my bike taking him to class.” He said and the other man let out a bright laugh. 

“You really _ did _ give him a ride that day?” He asked in surprise as they began to move to the music a bit instead of just staying still. 

Wonwoo nodded, a bright grin on his face. “He almost had a heart attack the first time.” He said, fondness flowing through him. “Junhui is my match, I guess.” 

The man nodded a bit, a small smile on his lips. “You love him, don’t you?” He asked, and Wonwoo paused at the question, and it hit him like a brick. "You really look like you like him a lot is all."

_He _ did _ fall for him, didn’t he? _

Wonwoo took a deep breath before answering. “I think I’m pretty close to that, yeah. But I… he doesn’t know yet.” He said hesitantly, and gave him a shy smile. “It’s barely been a month, but I was trying to convince myself to ask him out for months.” 

The man’s eyes widened a slight bit, but he didn’t seem disheartened by the admission, more like he was amazed at how easily the two had fallen together. 

“He didn’t look too happy that I was going to dance with you, you know.” He commented, and Wonwoo let out an amused chuckle. 

“He’s just a bit protective I guess, but he’s harmless.” Wonwoo reassured, but the other just looked at him like Wonwoo didn’t understand something to do with all of this. 

There was a pause before the other spoke, those soft eyes watching him closely. “You do know that there’s a reason for _ both _ of you guys being left alone, right?” He started and Wonwoo just looked at him with clear confusion in his eyes. “There’s your reputation, for Junhui. But then there’s an incident that happened the day after you dropped him off that first time, Junhui threatened to beat up someone in his dance class for calling you a few nasty things. Like he fully got into the guy’s face and looked like he was a second away from throwing a punch.” He explained, and Wonwoo’s eyes widened drastically. 

_ Junhui did… what..? _

“Oh.” Wonwoo mumbled, and blinked at him a few times, feeling his cheeks flush in the surprise of it all. “I didn’t know about that, actually. Thanks for letting me know, though.”

The man nodded slightly, a soft smile on his lips. “That’s why he was glaring at me earlier, he’s the jealous and possessive type from what the dance team guesses.” He said, giving Wonwoo one last full grin before sliding his hands across Wonwoo’s shoulders and moving his arms away as the song ended and the next began playing. “You should go back to him, I’d bet my degree he won’t let you leave his side again tonight after you entertained me.”

Wonwoo dumbly nodded, removing his hands from the man and looking back in the direction of the couches before returning his eyes to the stranger. “Thank you, for you know, not being mad I’m with Junhui suddenly even with your feelings. If you see me around don’t hesitate to come say hi, you seem like a cool guy.” Wonwoo said genuinely, watching the other grin brightly and nod before he made his way through the crowd again, but alone for the first time tonight. 

As soon as Wonwoo got close to the couch, Junhui’s eyes met his and in the matter of a few seconds Wonwoo was dragged down into his lap.

Wonwoo let out a loud noise of surprise, feeling Junhui’s arms wrap around his waist tightly as he settled down sideways across the other’s lap. One of Wonwoo’s hands shot out to steady himself against Junhui’s shoulder, his heart pounding against his rib cage. 

_ Maybe he should have listened to the guy a bit more. _

“Whoa, easy there.” Wonwoo said with a nervous chuckle, his cheeks flushing a bright red. “Are you okay?” He asked, meeting Junhui’s eyes.

There was a glint there that Wonwoo couldn’t read, and it just set off his internal danger meter even further. 

Junhui watched him for a few seconds before letting out a huff of air and nodding. “You were gone for a long time, Hannie keeps trying to kiss Seungcheol and he looks like he’s about to die.” Junhui said as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening, turning his eyes back to their friends. 

Wonwoo followed his eyes to see that Seungcheol did in fact look like the bright blush on his face was going to end him, and Jeonghan was about an inch away from being on the other’s lap and was leaning the farthest into Seungcheol’s space that he’s ever seen someone manage to do. It wasn’t that Seungcheol denied flirting, it was that the big softie couldn’t usually handle it and would just brush it off to save himself the embarrassment. But Jeonghan seemed to be bypassing every defense that Seungcheol had and was easily getting under his skin.

“They’d make a really cute couple.” Wonwoo said, deciding to just give in for now and lean into Junhui’s chest, draping an arm over his shoulder to rest along the back of the couch. 

“If they don’t get together soon I’m going to lose my mind, your Seungcheol has the resolve of a steel beam.” Junhui commented, his free hand settling on Wonwoo’s lower thigh. 

Wonwoo laughed a bit, an amused smile on his lips. “He’s just careful about things like this.” He said without much thought, picking up the still sealed water beside Junhui and taking a big sip. “He really likes Jeonghan, so I don’t see him lasting much longer.” Wonwoo said with a small smile, looking back to Junhui after a few moments.

It was quiet between them for a while, not awkward surprisingly, but peaceful. 

“You want to get out of here?” Wonwoo spoke up after a half hour of watching their friends mess around only Seungcheol and Jeonghan sober now. 

Junhui looked back at him curiously, completely relaxed and content with Wonwoo on him. “What do you mean?” He asked, and Wonwoo gave him a soft smile. 

“I have two helmets on me this time if you want to get out of here.” Wonwoo offered and watched as Junhui perked up at that. “I don’t know where we’ll go, but I think we’re both done with this.”

A laugh bubbled from Junhui and he nodded a little bit. “We can go to a place near my apartment for food.” He offered and even though Wonwoo was surprised by the offer, he found himself nodding along. 

“What kind of food is it?” He asked as he stood up, stretching out his legs and shoulders. Junhui got up along with him and moved over to Jeonghan and Seungcheol, telling them something before moving back over to him momentarily. 

“Mm, it’s a really good pizza place if you’re in the mood for it.” He offered and Wonwoo really was in the mood to eat some good food after the smell of booze all around him tonight. “I told those two that we’re heading out together and not to wait up, so we’re clear to go.” He told Wonwoo with a soft smile pulling at his lips, making one in turn appear easily on Wonwoo’s. 

“M’kay, I’ll take your word for the promise of good food.” Wonwoo replied playfully, tilting his head to the exit to indicate for them to start heading out. 

Junhui laughed brightly, nodding a tiny bit and falling into step with Wonwoo as they weaved through the mass of bodies in the house. 

It took a few minutes before they made it back to where his bike and Seungcheol’s car was parked, both of them settling into another set of comfortable silence.

Wonwoo easily unlocked the seat that was holding down both helmets, handing one to Junhui before taking his own and retrieving his gloves. He slipped his helmet on and gloves, taking his time before it hit him that he hadn’t seen Junhui begin to move. He turned back to Junhui to see him still standing there, waiting for Wonwoo with an expectant look in his eyes. 

Wonwoo rose an eyebrow in amusement, a grin slipping onto his lips. 

“You need something, kitten?” He taunted playfully, flipping his visor up to properly see him. 

Junhui fixed him with big doe eyes and he held out the helmet, catching Wonwoo off guard. He should have figured out how to strap himself in by now, right? Before Wonwoo could comment on it, though, Junhui spoke up. 

“Help me…” He whined, shaking the helmet extended in his arms at Wonwoo. 

That made a loud laugh bubble out from Wonwoo, and he just shook his head, giving in entirely too easily and taking the helmet from him. 

“Don’t you know how to do this by now?” He asked with a dopey smile on his lips as he slipped the helmet onto Junhui, swiftly beginning to strap him into it. 

“I just like it when you do it, Won.” Junhui admitted and it made Wonwoo’s movements stutter before he regained control over them again, letting out a few cusses at that. 

_ He’s been played. _

Wonwoo finished up securing the helmet, shaking his head a bit at how easily he’d played into what Junhui wanted.

“Christ you’re a handful.” Wonwoo said with a soft laugh, moving back to fully start the bike. “Are you going to direct me like last time, Kitten?” He asked, throwing a leg over the bike and standing it up to kick up the stand. 

Junhui seemed _ very _ proud of himself, not responding until he was climbing on the back of the bike. “I’ll do my best.” He said as he wrapped his arms around Wonwoo and basically plastered himself against him, the warmth from his partially covered torso pressing into Wonwoo’s back and making his mind fuzzy again. 

Junhui has Wonwoo in the palm of his hand and wrapped so tightly around his finger that Wonwoo never even realized it, and now it was too late to reverse it without hurting both of them.

Wonwoo was too deep into this mess of feelings for his health at this point.

_He might be falling in love with Junhui and he needs to get a fucking grip before it's too late._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween! I figured I'd throw something in there for the spooky season lol
> 
> Hope you liked it! They're slowly but surely falling into this entire mess lmao, send Wonwoo your regards because after this chapter his mess of a mind and feelings are going to need it
> 
> You can always find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/softency), I'm always doing something or another on there, so that's the best place to get any updates or just hear me sigh about dumb boys :)


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